


The Road to Love

by elenam



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18711631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenam/pseuds/elenam
Summary: Two strangers are in desperate need to find someone to share the road to British Columbia. When Scott Moir decides to post an add on Canada Car Pool's Facebook page, a certain Tessa Virtue ends up to be the person he was looking for.One small bump in the road though; it turns out they can't stand each other.Will the one week drive make them change their view of each other?





	1. A Life in Ruins

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> So okay, I know I haven't finished my other story "In Love with my Best Friend" yet, but I feel like I'm stuck without knowing where to go from there... 
> 
> I had a bright new idea instead and I thought I might give it a try :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Scott Moir woke up with his head feeling like it was about to split in two, the blood pounding loudly in his ears. He squinted his eyes as the morning light coming through the window blinded him, the sheet he usually used as a curtain was in a heap on the ground. He probably had forgotten to hang it the night before. 

Rubbing at his tired eyes, he took his phone from where it rested on the floor to look at the time. He groaned as he saw the dozens of messages he had received from his family. He had dozens of message notifications and three missed calls from his mother. 

He had screwed up, again, but this time he knew it was different. This time he knew he had to make a change in his life before it was too late, if it wasn’t already.

Groaning again, he hit his head repeatedly with his pillow, feeling like he needed to put some sense back in his head. 

His life was a complete mess. 

He was thirty years old and lived in a beat down house he had bought when the one he had been previously living in became too expensive. There were planks of wood laying around and studs and nails were spread everywhere on the floor. The renovations he had started had never been finished. There were half torn down walls separating the rooms, no curtains anywhere on the windows, except flannel sheets he had hanged here and there, and the ceiling was opened for him to see the plumbing and the electricity circuits running everywhere. He owned nothing more than a hard mattress, old blue sheets and a weird orange couch with multiple stains from things he couldn’t identify anymore. He didn’t have appliances in the kitchen, not even a coffee maker, and he drank water directly from the tap. 

His house was the reflect of what he had done to his life; it was half destroyed and he didn’t know anymore if there was a way to salvage it.

When he was in his early twenties, he had the life anyone would have dreamed of; he was an athlete; he earned money doing what he loved the most in life, playing hockey, and he was popular. Whenever he walked in a bar, girls would recognize him and start eyeing him and people stopped him for photographs. He could get any girl he wanted and he had nothing to do to get her to spend the night with him. One look and he could get anything and anyone. His name and fame allowed him that. 

He had money too. He had more money than he could have ever dreamed of, but he had dealt with it carelessly. He spent all his paychecks on partying and buying ostentatious gifts for girls whose names’ he didn’t even remember. Jewelry, clothes, perfume, expensive restaurants; he offered them everything in exchange of their company. He had money, but he was lonely. He could sense that people weren’t with him for who he was. They were with him because he was rich, famous and young. 

When he wasn’t busy buying people’s time, he used the rest of his money to buy a huge house and throw open bar parties to which hundreds of people attended, not a single one of them he knew.

He could have said he had a harsh upbringing, that his parents didn’t give him time and love and that it was why he acted that way; that it was his way of compensating for what he had lacked as a kid, but it would have been lying. His parents had been the best and they were certainly not to blame, on the opposite. His whole family had warned him. They had all told him that it wouldn’t last, that the fame and the glory was only temporary. That one day he would get too old, or too slow on the ice and there would come a new kid; faster and younger than him who’d collect all the glory and the money while he’d lose everything. His brothers told him to stop fooling around, to look for a real relationship, to buy a reasonable house and put money at the bank in a spare count. They told him times and times again, but he wasn’t interested. Maybe it was because nothing bad had ever happened to him, but he really thought nothing could touch him. He was young and he was stupid and he thought he was invincible.

Until he wasn’t.

He was 25 when it happened. He was on the ice for one of the most important match of the year. There were thousands of fans packed up in the arena, half dressed up in blue, his team color, the other half dressed in red, the adverse team’s color. People were cheering loudly and his conquest of the moment was watching him from his private lodge with her girl friends, probably getting wasted on expensive champagne, all paid by him. 

He was skating fast and he was coming near the goalie. There were only three minutes left to the game and it was a tie. The puck was passed to him by his teamates, he prepared to shoot and goal, assuring the win to his team. Just as he raised his stick to shoot he felt it; the shear impact of two other strong bodies on him, but more than that, he heard the pop of knee ligaments as they broke. The weirdest thing was that he almost didn’t feel the pain at first, but he still saw it all in front of his eyes; he saw the life he had known slip through his fingers as his body gave up under his weight. 

He learned later at the hospital that he had severely teared two of his knee ligaments. He needed surgery, recovery would be long and he would need to do countless hours of physiotherapy. He did it. He did it all. But the months passed, the season was over and he turned 26. Younger kids were picked to make the team and he realized, much to his dismay, that that was it; no matter if he recovered fully, he had lost too much training time and would never be back at the top of his shape. The new kids were a safer choice for the team than his old beaten up body. His family was right, but thankfully, they all refrained from saying “I told you so”. They simply looked at him with compassion and hugged him, which was even worse if he had to admit it. 

He could have changed after that. He could have used the opportunity to gain wisdom; buy a house, find a good girlfriend, start coaching or something like that. He could have spent more time with his family and the few friends he still had from his younger years, take his brothers and their growing families as role models, but he didn’t. 

He didn’t like the way that the people who cared about him looked at him; with pity and compassion. So he avoided them at all costs. He hated to be reminded of what he had lost every time he looked at his mother. 

So he continued to spend his money like there was no tomorrow and like he still had the salary of a professional hockey player; he bought hundreds of dollars bottle of champagne and dinners for girls who were more interested in taking a picture with him than talking to him. He spent the rest of his economies on a house that was even bigger than the previous one, bought a prestigious car to go with it and thousand dollars’ suits to impress. 

He wasn’t all that bad. He had been raised by a good family, down to earth people, and even if all the money and fame had seemingly changed him forever, his still had a good heart. So the money he didn’t spend on frivolous things, he gave it to charities that he cared about, wanting to do at least one good thing even if his life was crumbling down.

So he spent all his days like that until the day of his thirtieth birthday; the day before. 

Scott groaned as the events from the night before came back to his mind in short sequences.

It was 3 AM, he had just turned 30 and he had only a thousand dollars left in his bank account. He had just spent five thousand dollars on alcohol for people he didn’t know at a random high class bar in Montreal. He was a little drunk, not that much, and he was speeding on the highway, the adrenaline numbing his brain and making him forget that at thirty, he hadn’t accomplished a single thing. 

And then he got arrested. He wasn’t that drunk that they needed to take his driver licence away, but he was tipsy enough that it was worth being printed in the journal. That explained why his phone was buzzing from all the messages he was receiving; his agent (poor guy who still tried desperately to make something out of him) had probably told his mother about his latest screw up. 

The last bit of dignity he had was gone. He wasn’t Scott Moir, the fast and famous hockey player. He had become Scott Moir, the ex-athlete with a destroyed knee who drove drunk and had dilapidated his money. 

Shaking his head at his own stupidity, Scott ran a tired hand in his hair and dialed a number he hadn’t called in months. After he had gotten popular and had started acting like an ass, there was only one guy who had stuck with him, one guy who never let him down even if he also never refrained from telling him that he was acting like a spoiled brat. He was also one of the few ones who didn’t look at him with pity. He wasn’t afraid to tell him the real things; that he could still have a good life if he stopped throwing his money out the window and getting wasted on expensive alcohol. 

“Scott, I had a feeling you’d call,” Patrick said after two rings of the phone.

Despite the situation being as screwed up as it was, Scott chuckled. His friend had always been the voice of reason. He should have listened to him. He should have listened to a lot of people. 

“I screwed up Patrick, I really did,” he said, admitting for the first time in years that he hadn’t made the best choices. He had thought it often, but it was the first time he dared saying it aloud. 

Patrick was a figure skater. When Scott was young, his mother, being a figure skating coach, had forced him to take skating classes until he was almost 15. She said it was good to learn how to have total control of his body on the ice. If he could be graceful while speeding, he could do anything. Plus, the agility skating brought him was put to good use on the ice. When he was a kid he used to complain all the time, saying it was a girl’s sport and that people at school were making fun of him, until he met Patrick. Patrick wasn’t a hockey player like he was; he was a real figure skater. He could speed across the ice even faster than Scott and he turned three turns when he jumped in the air. Scott had been secretly jealous of him until they became great friends. He had never stopped envying how Patrick could simply be himself and be happy, not caring what others said. He wished he could have learned from him. Maybe if he had, he wouldn’t have found himself calling his old friend, needing to ask for a favor as his life was in ashes.

“That you did,” Patrick answered, fully honest like he always was. 

“I…” Scott started before stopping himself. He felt bad asking his friend for a favor after the many times Patrick had taken the time to advise himself against all the bad decisions he had taken. It didn’t felt right to burden him with his mistakes. 

“My cabin in the woods is free. Not to party, not to invite random girls. It’s free for you to go up in the mountain and think. Think about what you did the past few years and think about what you want to do with the rest of your life. You’re a good guy Scott. No matter how hard you try not to be sometimes,” Patrick said before hanging up, knowing Scott needed time to process what had just been said. 

Going to Chiddy’s cabin was an attractive idea. There was one problem though; it was in BC. Once his speeding fee would be paid, he’d barely have five hundreds left in his account and he didn’t know when would be the next time he’d get more money. A plane ticket to Vancouver would be way too expensive.   
Scott sighed. He couldn’t stay where he was though. He couldn’t face his family. He needed to put his life back in order before he did. He wanted his mother to be proud of him. He knew it had been a while since the last time she had felt pride for him. He knew she still loved him, but she didn’t support his latest actions and he couldn’t blame her. 

A secluded cabin in the woods was his best option. Plus, the drive to the Vancouver area would give him time to think. Combined with a few days in the mountain, he knew it was exactly what he needed. He just had to find a way to get there without running out of money.

He could lift someone maybe? It was pretty unlikely that there would be another person who would need to cross Canada by car to get to Vancouver in September, but he could at least try to find a few people on the way? Maybe from Montreal to Toronto and then Toronto to Manitoba and so on? 

It was his best option though. It was either finding someone to share the gas fees or finding a part time job until it was time to leave, something he had no qualifications for whatsoever. 

Sighing, Scott opened Facebook on his phone and looked through the various pages of announces. He found one group called Canada Carpool. It was full of people offering or asking for different rides across the country. 

He couldn’t realistically sign himself up using his real Facebook account. He didn’t want to risk people recognizing him. So he made himself a brand new profile, changing his name to Scott Moore and putting a picture of him from far away with sunglasses on, playing with his nieces in his parents’ backyard. It was an old picture and it screamed plain normal trustworthy guy. 

He wrote a few words explaining what he was looking for and posted on the group, praying for the better.

When he was done, his head was still hurting like hell so he took two Advils before collapsing back on his old mattress and praying for sleep to come claim him once again.


	2. A New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!
> 
> Chapter number 2 today! Let's get a little more information about Tessa's life before she meets Scott :) 
> 
> And thank you all for the kind comments! It's really appreciated!

Tessa Virtue was trying pretty hard not to panic, but it was proving really difficult to do. 

She was screwed. There was absolutely no way that she was going to be able to make it to Kaitlyn’s wedding if she didn’t find a solution to her problem, and fast.

It had been supposed to be fun and resourcing. She had planned on going to Kaitlyn’s wedding, in Vancouver of all places, by driving all by herself across Canada. With her recent break up with Philip, her boyfriend of the last 8 years, she felt like she needed it. She needed time to herself. She needed time to think. A one-week journey of driving across almost all the Canadian provinces had seemed like the perfect way to do so. 

Her break up with Philipp hadn’t been traumatizing, neither had it been hurtful or even slightly sad. Philipp had simply come to her one morning, asking why they were staying together when their relationship wasn’t evolving. He was right; they had been together for a little more than 8 years and yet, they weren’t talking about kids nor marriage. They lived together, yes, but Philipp was almost always away for work and Tessa worked long hours too. They barely saw each other at home. 

After sitting down to talk on that morning, they had both realized that they were staying together simply because it was convenient. Tessa was 28 and Philipp was 32. They were at the age where people are looking for life partners, but their relationship was far from that. They were together simply because it saved them a lot of trouble. They had someone to go with to parties and receptions. Plus, they had spent 8 years together, not worrying that they needed to find someone. But they weren’t in love. Maybe they had been, at first, when they were young college students, but Tessa had trouble remembering it. She didn’t have butterflies when she thought about him, nor did she feel electricity run through her when they kissed and to be honest, she really doubted she had ever felt that way about Philipp or anyone else. She had loved that he shared her taste for culture and art, that he was a gentleman who had the same values; respect, hard work, family. She thought it was enough and that she didn’t need to feel all fuzzy and warm at his touch. She thought it was normal. She was a real person, not a romance novel character, but when she had told all that to Jordan after she had called her to inform her family of her break up, her big sister had chastised her, saying it was a crime and that she needed to be with someone who made her feel all giddy and melting when they kissed or looked at each other. Tessa had rolled her eyes at her sister’s words, but deep down she knew Jordan was right. 

And Philipp deserved someone who felt that way about him too. So they had parted ways amicably. He had taken his stuff and found himself a new loft while she kept their condo. After a week of separation, as she was watching a movie all by herself on a Friday night, Tessa realized that she didn’t feel at all different now that she was celibate and that maybe her sister was right. She was at least supposed to miss him, no? But the truth was that they had spent their fair share of Friday nights separated and it had never been an issue. They had separated lives. Yes, they sometimes went to the museum or the restaurant together on special occasions, but they had never really been attached to the hip and had never tried to spend more time together. 

The next day, a letter came for her in the mail; Kaitlyn’s invitation to her and Andrew’s wedding. Seeing it, Tessa was reminded of Kaitlyn’s excitement when she had shared the news of her engagement. How her eyes shined as she recalled how Andrew had proposed. 

Being reminded of that so soon after her break up felt to Tessa like it was the universe’s way of sending her a message and she realized that she wanted that too. She wanted someone who would make her feel the way Kaitlyn felt for Andrew. She wanted to find someone who’d want to plan a whole life with her, not just someone to be at her arm in parties, someone she wouldn’t miss at all. 

So on a whim, she had signed herself up on a dating app and she met with a dozens of guys before she called it quits a couple of weeks later. She just wasn’t ready. People asked questions about her personal life and she hated it. She just wasn’t the kind of person who opened up easily. She liked to keep her private life private. Plus, she didn’t like the spontaneity that came with dating apps. She never knew what to expect and it made her feel anxious. It wasn’t for her; she liked when she was in control of what was happening. 

Everything in her life was always planned far ahead. For her trip to BC, she had booked hotels, packed her suitcases, her bridesmaid dress was by the door in a slipcover. She was all ready to leave, everything planned for her seven-days journey, until one stupid drunk driver had decided to completely destroy her car. 

Thinking back to the accident made her shudder. She hadn’t been really hurt; thank god, but her car was not salvageable. She had a few bruises, a split lip, a concussion, a few stitches on her forehead from where her head had hit the window on the driver’s side and a broken rib from the impact of the inflatable cushion. It could have been way worst, the doctor had told her so at the hospital. She had been lucky.   
She was mad at the driver though; pissed mad. It was a nineteen year-old who wasn’t even legally allowed to drive after taking as little as one single sip of a wine cooler, but the teenager had decided to take his car after more than ten beers. He had broken his leg and had been arrested; good for him. Tessa hoped he had learned from his mistakes. He deserved way worse after he had ruined her road trip plans and had broken one of her ribs. 

She winced in pain as she reached for a mug in her cabinets and took in a big breath. She refused to take pain medication; she was used to deal with the pain and the painkillers the doctor had prescribed her made her feel like her head was in the clouds. 

As she was filling her mug with scalding hot tea, Tessa’s phone rang, making her jump at the noise.

“Hey Jordan,” she greeted as she picked up, her sister’s name flashing on the screen. 

“Hey Tess, how are you feeling?” Jordan asked with all the care in the world. Tessa smiled fondly at her big sister’s tone. She had always been there to protect her. 

“Like my head is going to split in two,” Tessa groaned.

“Did you take something?” Jordan asked.

Tessa stayed silent, knowing her sister would only see through her lies.

“Tess, come on, they gave you painkillers for a reason, take them.” Jordan chastised and Tessa could see her rolling her eyes even though she wasn’t there.

“I don’t like how they make me feel fuzzy,” she argued.

“Then take Advil or something, anything!” Jordan argued. 

“I did, it’s just not strong enough,” Tessa sighed, sitting on one of her kitchen’s stool.

“Then take the good stuff and sleep on it. You’ll feel better,” Jordan pleaded.

“I can’t. I haven’t find a way to get to Kaitlyn’s wedding yet,” 

“You know, she’d understand if you couldn’t go Tess. You’ve just been through a car accident and it’s on the other side of the country!”  
“I know she would, but it’s important for me to be there,” 

“There are no flights available?” Jordan tried, but Tessa only told her all about the extensive research she had done, only to come back empty handed.

All the planes were booked and she couldn’t find a rental car in such a short notice. Plus, she was feeling a little uncomfortable at the idea of driving such a long distance by herself so soon after the accident. She had looked for the train, but it was also fully booked. 

“Crazy idea, but why don’t you look up for carpooling? I know a friend who went from New-York to Edmonton like that,” Jordan suggested.

Tessa wasn’t sure about that. She had always been someone who loved to control things as much as she could. She had probably inherited that from her years as a ballet dancer, learning strict technique and discipline. Plus, with her recent car accident, she wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable riding with someone she didn’t even know.

“Just look it up before refuting the idea. It’s called Canada Carpool, it’s on Facebook,” Jordan suggested.

“Alright, I’ll look it up,” Tessa promised only half-heartedly. Her sister could be persistent sometimes and Tessa had learned that the only way to get her to shut up when she was set on something was by agreeing with her. 

“Good, now go take painkillers for my sake Tess. You breathe heavily and I know for a fact that’s it’s not because you’ve just exercised or something. Your ribs hurt,” 

Rolling her eyes, Tessa agreed with her sister again, knowing there was no way she would do it. She needed a clear head if she wanted to find a solution to her predicament. Dilaudid would prevent her from doing so. 

She chatted a little more about everything and nothing with Jordan before finally hanging up after promising for the hundredth time that she’d take painkillers and go to sleep. 

When she hung the phone, she stared at the wall for a full five minutes before getting the energy to move. 

She reluctantly opened her Facebook account and checked out the Canada Carpool page. She sighed. People were asking or offering for various lifts, but none of them were what she was looking for. Montreal to Toronto, Montreal to Quebec, Montreal to Rimouski, Montreal to Ottawa, Montreal to Boston. There was nothing about Montreal to Vancouver! Of course, no one did that. People took the plane or the train, not the stupid car. That was why all planes and trains were booked. 

She was seconds from closing everything and giving up, when the page was refreshed and she felt like she was having an hallucination.

Hey there!

So I got a crazy idea and decided to cross the continent to go visit an old friend in Vancouver. I’m looking for a companion who’ll want to share this adventure with me. I’m leaving this Friday. Leave me a message if you’re interested. 

Scott Moore

The guy was offering a ride for exactly where she was going and left at a convenient time too. He was leaving on Friday and Kaitlyn’s wedding was the next week-end. It left her around a week to get to Vancouver, which was ideal. She felt a little apprehension at contacting him though. She didn’t know him. He could have been a serial killer for all she knew! But a serial killer offering a ride across Canada would be going through a lot of trouble, Tessa thought, pushing that idea to the far back of her mind. 

Tessa clicked on the guy’s profile and sighed. Everything was private except for his profile picture. He was in a backyard, playing with two young girls. His daughters probably, she wondered. He seemed decent enough and didn’t have the looks of a murderer.

She dragged the mouse across the screen until it rested above the messenger icon. She debated for long minutes if she should act on it and contact the guy.

Her answer came when a message popped up on her phone. It was Kaitlyn, asking if she had found a way to come to the wedding. Tessa knew she’d understand if she couldn’t make it, but she also knew that her best friend wanted her at her wedding. 

Taking in a big breath, Tessa opened a new window and started typing, asking Scott Moore if she could tag along for his road trip across North America. She clicked on sent before she had time to change her mind, letting out a shaky breath.

She closed her laptop and realized that her sister was right, she needed to take something. Her head was pounding and her ribs hurt with every breath she took. Deciding that she could forgo the concentration since she had seemingly finally found a solution to her transportation problem to Kaitlyn’s wedding, she downed two painkillers in lots of water and went to bed, trying to forget for the time being that for once she wasn’t in control of her life and she hated it. 

As she was finally falling asleep, she heard her phone buzz on the table at her bedside and she picked it up, feeling a little groggy. She looked at the message and she gasped audibly; Scott Moore had already answered her. He was accepting her proposition, asking for her to pay for 70% of the gas in return. It was a good offer. She guessed it was set then; she was going to Kaitlyn’s wedding with a stranger. She just hoped it would go well.


	3. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to you all :) 
> 
> I'm really happy to post chapter 3 today! I worked a lot on this chapter, re-writing it many times until it was to my liking, so very sorry for the delay!
> 
> Thank you again for taking the time to let me know what you think!
> 
> Enjoy!

Scott parked his car in front of the address Tessa Virtue had sent him and sighed. He didn’t know what he had gotten himself into, but he could only hope that everything would go well. 

He hadn’t believed it at first when he had received Tessa’s message, saying she was traveling from Montreal to Vancouver too. He had first thought that he’d only receive various offers from people traveling from Montreal to Ontario and then from there to the States or something. He didn’t expect to find someone who had the same destination than he did. But apparently Tessa had a friend’s wedding there and had no other way to get to British Colombia than by carpooling. He wondered how that was possible. Tessa’s building was lovely, situated in downtown Montreal. It was luxury condominium or something, probably the kind of place he should have invested in instead of the stupid huge house he had bought immediately after he had lost his hockey contract. It didn’t seem like she was the kind of person who lacked money. Why hadn’t she bought a plane ticket to Vancouver instead of resorting to a carpooling Facebook group? 

Shaking his head, convincing himself that he didn’t care and that it was none of his damn business, Scott looked around, trying to spot a woman fitting the image he had of Tessa; an image built on her social media pictures. He had done a little research on her, not wanting to invite in his car any stranger who contacted him. He especially didn’t want to risk being stuck with a crazy fan or a girl who could make him fall back into some of the bad habits he wanted to get rid of.

Tessa had seemed like the perfect companion for his road trip. She had pictures of books and flowers on her Instagram page. She seemed like the type of girl who loved to go to classy cafés to spend time reading and visited museums for fun. She seemed well-read and her appearance was always polished. She was of average height, had long dark hair and he remembered her striking green eyes too. She was beautiful on all the pictures he had seen, but the complete opposite of the girls he usually went after. It was exactly what he needed; someone who would be as far as he could from the life he wanted so desperately to run away from. Plus, there was no way he would risk ruining his promise to change by flirting with her or anything; she was so not his type. 

With Tessa’s image in his head, Scott scanned the few people in front of her building, trying to spot her from afar. There was an old woman holding her white puffy dog on a bright pink leash, a twenty something guy with huge headphones on, and a woman with two giant suitcases and a slipcover held tightly in her hands. She was dressed in black leggings, leather boots and a beige trench coat. A checkered scarf was around her neck, matching her clothes. She was looking in the direction of his car, biting down on her lip in what seemed to be a nervous manner. That was probably her. 

Scott got out of the car and walked to her, feeling more nervous than what he had expected. She really didn’t seem like the type of girl who watched hockey, and it had been a while since people had talked about him in the media, he had stopped playing hockey 5 years before after all, but his face had been in the journal just a few days before; in a corner of page 20, but still. Maybe if she was a meticulous journal reader, or maybe if she followed the sport actuality on the internet, or if she had a boyfriend or a brother who was a hockey fan… but somehow he doubted it. 

“Hi, you must be Scott Moore. Nice to meet you,” said the woman, using the name he had given her on social media to avoid being recognized. He smiled politely, nodding his head. 

She extended her hand to shake and Scott took it, eyeing her warily, but as he glanced deep in her eyes, she didn’t even slightly flinch, so he knew he was safe; she had no idea who he was, at least for the moment. 

“And you must be Tessa,” he said shortly, “Let’s go then.”

With no other words, he took one of her suitcases in his hand and rolled it towards his car, Tessa following closely behind. He didn’t plan on losing a lot of time talking with her; she was tagging along solely because he lacked money to make the trip by himself. She wasn’t there to make conversation, nor to become his friend. It’s not that he didn’t plan on being polite, but he needed time to think and he wouldn’t be able to do so it if they spent all their time talking. Plus, she seemed to be the complete opposite of him; he doubted they would find anything to talk about even if they wanted too. 

“So, do you want me to pay you now or when we get there?” he heard Tessa ask as he opened the trunk of his pick up and he threw her suitcase carelessly in the back of the car. She flinched at that and he rolled his eyes. It was just a suitcase, not porcelain. 

“Hum, would you mind being a little more careful hum, it’s huh,” Tessa said, eyeing him.

“Huh, sorry,” Scott said, shrugging. He couldn’t care less about Tessa’s luggage, even if it seemed expensive judging by the Vuitton tag on the front. He was on a mission to find a new meaning to his life. He had more serious things to care about than her designer’s suitcase. 

“It’s okay,” she said coldly, and Scott could sense that she hadn’t bought his half-meant apology. 

“So, about the money?” she asked once again, reaching for her wallet. Scott recognized the brand and scoffed. Between that and her expensive suitcase, he knew money wouldn’t be an issue. 

“You can pay me when we get there. I guess money won’t be a problem,” he said simply, and he saw Tessa’s eyes grow round at his words. He shrugged before hoping in his truck and waiting for Tessa to do the same in the passenger’s seat. 

He saw her through the window as he buckled his seat belt. She was eyeing the truck, but it didn’t seem like she was about to move anytime soon. She wasn’t seriously expecting him to open the door for her, no? He had offered her a lift to British Colombia, not to be her personal chauffeur. Rolling his eyes, he turned the key in the ignition and rolled down the window.

“You coming or what?” he asked. He hoped he hadn’t invited a snob along for the five-day drive or it was going to be really painful. “Tessa?” he called again, looking at her impatiently. There was no way he was going back outside to open that stupid door for her. 

“Yeah, yeah” Tessa replied, sounding a little nervous before opening the door and hissing herself up in the seat, taking in a sharp intake of breath as she did so.  
Scott rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that high of a climb. He had most likely invited a princess on his journey, great. Just great. 

“Do you have your passport?” Scott asked Tessa, changing the subject to safer territory. He didn’t want to start arguing with her less than five minutes after he had met her, but he could already tell that they wouldn’t get along very well. 

“Yes I do,” Tessa said, taking her passport out of her purse to show it to him. It was in a plastic pocket for protection. Of course. She seemed like the type of girl who put everything in pockets, organized her clothes by color in her closet and classified her books by alphabetized order. She probably enjoyed spending a week-end day reorganizing her shoes. 

“Alright, let’s go then,” Scott said, leaving the parking of Tessa’s building and heading straight into Montreal’s morning traffic. 

“Hum, before we leave, you don’t want to, I don’t know, talk about the plans for the road, hotels reservations, schedules?” Tessa asked, incredulous. 

Scott stopped at a red light and stared at her; “Huh no? We’ll follow the GPS through the states and for the rest, we make it up as we go.”  
He had checked the road on Google maps the night before and the fastest way was if they went through Ontario and then through the States. That was all he needed to know. The GPS would guide them towards their destination and the rest was only details. 

“But, how many hours do you plan on driving every day? Don’t you have any idea on where to stop at night? Don’t you want to make hotel reservations before we start our journey?” she asked again and Scott sighed loudly. Tessa was already infuriating and they only had met minutes before. He wondered how he would survive to the five-day trip. 

“Are you always this uptight?” he asked before he had time to think about it and shut his stupid mouth. 

Tessa looked offended at hearing him complain aloud and he almost felt bad for it before remembering that she was the guest. They were stuck together and she would just have to deal with it. If that didn’t make her happy, she just had to find another lift.

Another part of him felt bad for his poor welcoming though. He had offered a lift to Vancouver and she had accepted it, probably thinking that she would meet a nice and welcoming stranger, but he was the complete opposite of it. She didn’t deserve his attitude, but somehow he couldn’t help it. He had apparently invited an anxious woman and he was stuck with her alone for five days. He, on the opposite, was more of the spontaneous type. 

“I’m sorry, but don’t you think a little planning is necessary? We are about to cross the country; don’t you want to know just a little what’s awaiting us?” 

“Not really. I have no plans Tessa. Like I said, we’ll just see as it goes. We stop when we’re tired and we find whatever cheap motel is available,” Scott said, turning his attention back to the road ahead as the light turned green. 

“But, what if we don’t find anything? What if we get too tired and there isn’t anything available?” she continued fidgeting with her coat, sounding nervous. 

“I don’t know. Worst case scenario we sleep in the car. It’s September, not the middle of winter. We’ll be okay,” he said, sighing and rubbing at his eyes. The light turned green and Scott accelerated a little roughly, he saw Tessa grasp the handle of the door and her knuckles turned white. He rolled his eyes again. He wasn’t going that fast. That girl had a serious problem. 

“But,” she tried to protest again, but he had enough.  
“Jeez Tessa, relax! We’ll just deal with hotels and stops when time comes, alright?” he said on a harsher tone than he had expected. He saw Tessa flinch and he almost felt bad, but it was his road trip and she was the guest. It was his rules. He didn’t want her anxious manners to ruin his week. He was supposed to find a new meaning to his life for god’s sake, not deal with a stranger’s anxiety. 

“Alright, you’re the driver after all,” he heard Tessa say as she crossed her arms. He could that tell she wasn’t totally on board with his spontaneity. 

After that they didn’t speak. At all. If Scott was honest, it didn’t really bother him, especially since he knew that they would have probably just kept arguing about whether or not they needed to organize every single minute of their journey.

The silence gave Scott time to think as the landscape passed by. He thought about his mother, about what he would say to her when he would next see her and about how good it would feel if she was finally proud of what he did for once. It also made him realize that she would have probably chastised him for the way he had talked to Tessa. But that girl knew how to get on his nerves with her hundred questions. 

The good thing about her though, was that she seemed to get that he didn’t want to talk because after a few miles, she got her earplugs out of her bag, carefully rolled so they wouldn’t get all tangled, of course, and stuck the buds in her ears, putting some music on her phone and turning her body in her seat so she was facing the window. 

They drove for four hours in pure silence before Scott started noticing how Tessa was moving in her seat and how she kept readjusting her position. She shot him nervous side-glances too when she obviously thought he wasn’t looking. After a good five minutes of this game, he was a second from asking her what she wanted when she finally opened the mouth and told him about what was bothering her; “Could we stop soon maybe? I… I need a bathroom break,” she said, eyeing him carefully and Scott felt bad for real this time. He wanted silence and resourcing, but he also wanted Tessa to be comfortable enough around him so she would be able to ask him for breaks and such. He wasn’t a total tyrant. 

“Of course, of course,” he replied, struggling to answer. 

As soon as he could, Scott left the highway to stop at a Tim Hortons in a small Ontarian town boarding the road. They both exited the car and walked inside, Tessa going for the bathroom while Scott went to the counter where he ordered two coffees and chicken sandwiches since it was already lunch time. After the poor way their journey had started, he wanted to ask for a truce. Food was always a good way to apologize. 

As he was handing money to the employee at the cash register, he heard someone call him by his name from behind and he froze. 

“Scott Moir, the hockey player? Is that really you?” he turned to see a teenager, maybe 18 or 19 years old and Scott smiled forcefully. Some fans still recognized him here and there and it while it used to please him, ever since he had lost his contract, it always left him in a shitty mood. It reminded him of what he had lost. 

More than that, that day he was also praying that Tessa wouldn’t come out of the bathroom to witness the encounter. How would she feel knowing she was driving with an ex hockey player who had been arrested for drunk driving? Probably not good at all. She would probably cancel their deal and find herself another way to BC. He needed the money that she had promised too much.

“Hum, yeah, that’s me,” Scott answered, hoping he could get over with the situation as fast as he could. 

“Wow! It’s so nice to meet you!” the teenager said before asking him for an autograph and a picture. Scott obliged and took a selfie with the guy before signing a napkin for him. As soon as he handed it back to him, he saw Tessa push the door of the bathroom and he excused himself.

“Hey, you’re good to go?” Scott asked, not even looking at her as he handed her a coffee and the sandwich bag. Before she had time to answer, Scott was already outside. 

“Hum, thank you, for the sandwich,” Scott heard Tessa said but he only nodded. His encounter with the young fan had put him in a terribly bad mood. All he could think about was his broken ligaments, the money he threw out the window, dozens of girls whose name he didn’t remember and his family disappointed expressions. He felt like hitting something. Life wasn’t fair. He had lost everything. 

On a whim, he turned the radio on, heavy rock music resonating loudly in the car. He saw Tessa’s reproving glance on him and snapped; “What? You’re the guest so if it bothers you, you can find another way to that stupid wedding,” 

Tessa blushed and looked away, biting down hard on her lip. 

Scott knew he was acting like a total ass. He wasn’t that kind of person, at least he used to be a good man, but his loss of hockey had changed him and people around him paid the price. Tessa was his newest victim. 

He didn’t say another word after and neither did Tessa, he just turned up the volume of the radio. 

As time flew by, Scott felt the rage slowly subside until there was only a dull ache left somewhere in his heart. He wondered for a while if he would ever feel good again. 

It was eight at night when Scott’s eyes started to burn with sleepiness and he noticed that Tessa was getting more and more nervous by the minute, fidgeting with her sweater hem and biting down on her lip in what seemed to be an habit she had whenever she was feeling anxious, which was almost all the time ever since he had met her.

Scott felt bad for making her feel that way all day and sighed; “We should stop in the next city, Sault-Saint-Marie. We could try and find a room for the night,” he suggested and he heard Tessa exhale in relief. 

“Yeah, whatever you want,” she replied in a wat that she tried to make indifferent, but Scott could tell that she had been waiting for him to say that for a couple of hours. 

They had no trouble finding a motel in Sault-Saint-Marie. Scott stopped at a Best Western and they took each a room. He paid with his debit card and as he did, he saw the numbers from his bank account go down in his head. He really needed to get to British Colombia and find there what he was looking for, maybe find a job? He had around 450$ left, no more. 

Tessa and Scott both headed into their rooms after that, not even turning to wish each other a good night.

Scott collapsed on his bed as soon as the door closed behind him. He was beat. He had spent the day driving and thinking. He eyed the mini-bar for a minute before groaning. He wasn’t there to fall back into bad habits. Numbing his brain would lead to nothing, just a headache, and he had had plenty of those in the last five years. Instead, he took his phone and dialed Patrick’s number, knowing his friend was the only one who could help him in the situation.

“Scott, where are you now?” Patrick said as soon as he answered.

Scott ran a tired hand in his hair; “Sault-Sainte-Marie,” he announced flatly. 

“Well, you had a big first day! How’s the girl you decided to bring along?” he asked and Scott rolled his eyes. Ever since he told his friend that he was carpooling with a woman, Patrick was teasing him, saying that she might end being exactly was he was looking for.

“She’s infuriating man!” he complained, “She kept asking for plans and hotels reservations. She wanted to plan ahead every single minute of the drive. Plus, she was dressed like she was going to a work interview or something! That girls needs to learn how to relax! It’s a road trip not a meeting with the queen! You should have seen her eat in the car; napkin spread on her lap, not letting a single crumb fall on her lap!”  
Patrick laughed on the other end of the phone; “That bad, eh?”

“Seriously! I wonder how I’ll survive to the next four days if she keeps asking questions and acting like that. She put music on her phone and I saw she was listening to Hall and Oates! Hall and Oates! How old is she? Eighty?” he continued, fueled by his friend’s patient listening. 

“Scott, maybe you’re being a little harsh,” his friend chastised and Scott sighed. He was right. Tessa wasn’t that bad, she was just the complete opposite of him and it rubbed at him the wrong way. 

“Yeah maybe, anyway, I just needed an hear to listen. I met a fan today and it put me in a funk,” he shrugged.

“Oh Scott,”

“I know, I know. I just, it’s hard to find who I am if I’m not a hockey player. It’s even harder to find what I want to do with my life when people keep reminding him of what I lost.” 

“You might have lost hockey Scott, but don’t forget that you can still do a lot of things. Try not to make that girl’s life too miserable because of your own regrets, eh?” Patrick reminded him and Scott sighed loudly. His friend was right. Tessa didn’t deserve his bad temper and shitty attitude.

He made a mental note to apologize the next day and said goodbye to his friend before falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. 


	4. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So sorry! I know I told a lot of you that I would post chapter 4 this week-end, but I worked a lot and didn't have time to finish the last minute editing I wanted to do before posting. 
> 
> At last, it is here ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

The next day, at only seven AM, Tessa was slowly woken up by the soft classical music she had chosen as an alarm. As soon as she took in her surroundings; an impersonal Best Western’s hotel room, she groaned. She was already feeling extenuated at the sole idea of spending another full day stuck in a car with only Scott and his jerky attitude. She wondered how she was going to survive to the second day, and even worse, to the next four days.

She had had some apprehensions at first, when Jordan had suggested she could get a lift with a total stranger, but never had she imagined that it would be that horrible. Scott didn’t talk. At all. And whenever she tried to make conversation, it always ended with him telling her in a not so subtle way that he would rather have silence. He wanted silence, yet he put rock music at decibels so high she had wondered for a little while if she would lose her hearing! 

Plus, probably the most irritating point, he hadn’t planned ahead a single thing for the whole trip! He hadn’t planned the road, hadn’t downloaded a map, hadn’t booked a single hotel room! He didn’t know how much driving he wanted to do in a day, had no plans whatsoever for where nor when they would stop. In a not so gentle way, he kept telling her to shut up and to stop worrying. She couldn’t help it. She was raised like that. She needed to plan things and organize her life. She had inherited discipline from ballet and it tainted her personality. The more Scott told her to stop worrying, the more worried she was becoming. 

She knew that not everybody saw life the way she did. She knew that it was sometimes a little too much. She was the anxious type and Scott was more of the spontaneous type it seemed, but it didn’t give him the right to talk to her the way he had. She hated him for that.

She hated him even more because he also owned a stupid truck that was really hard to climb into with broken ribs! He had been so arrogant when she had made no move to climb in his truck that first time, when they were still in Montreal. He had watched her, incredulous, as she debated whether or not she needed to tell him about her injuries and the car accident. The way he had looked at her though, when she was standing outside of his truck, had convinced her that she would not share a single thing about her personal life with him. So she sucked it up every time she climbed in his truck, biting down on her lip from the pain, and so far Scott was completely oblivious to her situation.   
So yeah, she could say that their first day had been a total disaster! And there were still four other days to go. 

Tessa had called Jordan the night before, needing to ventilate and tell her big sister how big a mistake she had made by accepting to ride with Scott. 

It would have felt great to pour her heart out to Jordan, if only the walls of the room hadn’t been made out of paper. While she talked to her sister, she could also hear Scott complain to his friend, about her. He thought she was too uptight and apparently she was getting on his nerves by asking questions and even by the music she decided to listen to on her phone. 

They guy was a jerk. He didn’t like her? Well, she didn’t like him either. He didn’t want to talk and didn’t want to be polite, well, she could do just that. She had to endure his shitty temper for four more days, and then she’d finally be in Vancouver where she would see Kaitlyn and be there by her side for the most important day of her life; her wedding. In the end it would be all worth it. 

With another big sigh, Tessa got out of bed and instantly took two painkillers that she downed with lots of water. She went to the bathroom and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, wincing. Without make up on, faint bruises could still be seen on her forehead and under her lip. She took out her concealer and attempted to hide the traces of her accident. When she was satisfied with her job, she put on comfy clothes for the ride; leggings and a royal blue jacket from lululemon. As soon as she was all ready to go, she received a text message from Scott, asking if she was ready. 

“Ready?” He had texted her and nothing more. No saying good morning, no smiley, no nothing. He was as welcoming and charming in text messages than in real life apparently. 

She rolled her eyes and answered him, texting that she would join him in the hotel lobby for breakfast. Tessa had only one thing in her mind; she was going to ignore Scott as much as she could. He was her ride to Vancouver and that was it. She wouldn’t talk unnecessarily, wouldn’t ask him for anything and wouldn’t do anything else than sit tightly in her seat, in silence. She would just have to deal with her anxiety and hope that Scott would have the decency to stop before midnight to find a place to sleep, wherever they would end up to be; an hotel or an empty Walmart parking lot. She couldn’t predict his actions, but just like he had asked her to do; she’d just have to deal with it. He wasn’t worth an argument. She wouldn’t lose her only way to Kaitlyn’s wedding just because she and Scott disagreed. 

As she got out of the elevator, Tessa spotted Scott in the room where they served breakfast. There were a few empty tables to sit at and a buffet up one wall. She joined him and they sat together at a table for two. Scott smiled at her, a smile that she didn’t return. 

“Did you sleep well?” Scott asked her and Tessa all but rolled her eyes. Since when did he care about how she slept? Since when did he care about anything other than himself? 

“I did, thank you,” she replied coldly, not bothering to ask about his own night of sleep, before standing up with her plate, going for the buffet. She filled her plate with eggs, eight-grains bread and yogurt, picked an orange in the fruit bowl and filled a mug of scalding hot coffee. 

She went back to their table and opened her eyes wide as she saw Scott’s plate. Waffles with lots of maple syrup and a banana. 

“What?” Scott looked at her, a goofy grin on his face. “I love waffles,” he said as an explanation.

Tessa raised an eyebrow. Before she had time to remember she was supposed to ignore him, she said; “It doesn’t seem that sustaining that’s all,”

At that Scott simply shrugged; “Maybe, but my plate seems a lot funnier than yours! Not everything has to be perfect Tessa. Sometimes you can do things simply for fun!”

Tessa nodded, taking a sip of her coffee and looking away. She couldn’t care less about Scott’s taste for breakfast. He was going to be hungry before 9 AM if he ate only sugar, but it wasn’t her problem. He couldn’t even talk to her the day before, they were certainly not going to start making small talk about waffles and eggs. 

“Look Tessa, I just huh,” he started and Tessa sighed loudly.  
He looked a little uncomfortable at that and she almost felt bad, almost, but then she remembered how she felt the day before and she crossed her arms, looking at him defiantly, as if daring him to say what was on his mind.

“I just wanted to huh, apologize, for yesterday. I’m going through a rough patch and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve the way I acted and talked to you,”

Well, that was certainly not what she had been expecting. She appreciated Scott’s words, but a part of her doubted that he was sincere. The way he had talked about her to his friend… He probably wanted to apologize only so he could feel better. If that could buy her some peace for the day, she could pretend she was accepting his apology. 

“Thank you, I appreciate the apology,” she said coldly and Scott’s smile faded. She looked away, avoiding his eyes, and they finished their breakfast in silence.

At eight AM sharp, they were back in the car, Scott behind the steering wheel, a bag full of snacks in his hands. Proudly, he showed her his provisions of protein bars and candies and Tessa half-smiled at his efforts. She couldn’t say that he wasn’t trying harder than the day before. He had apologized and was offering peace in the form of food. At least he was trying something. He would need to do a lot more than that though, if he wanted her to fully forgive him. She doubted she could assume so soon that his shitty attitude and arrogant answers were a thing of the past. 

“Ready for another day of driving?” Scott asked cheerfully, a little too cheerfully for how early it still was.

“Hum, hum” she nodded. 

“So I huh, figured that we could put some music on today? To lighten our ride? If you want? But hum, I’ll let you chose this time. No more heavy metal, promise” Scott said and Tessa allowed herself to smile. 

“Yeah sure,” she said and turned on the radio. She shuffled through many stations until she found one that pleased her. Long Time Running by The Tragically Hip was playing and she absolutely loved that song. 

“Oh I love that song!” Scott exclaimed and she looked at him, surprised; “Really? You do?” 

“Yeah! The Tragically Hip are among my favourites!” 

Tessa smiled, for real this time, not only that half smile she had produced at breakfast. It was probably the first thing she had in common with Scott. He might have been of bad company, but, at least, he could have great taste in music, when he wasn’t listening to heavy metal that is. 

They listened to the radio for a few hours and exchanged a few words here and there. Tessa found herself surprisingly getting more comfortable around Scott, something she would have never expected the day before. He didn’t snap anymore when she asked questions and even offered to stop every two hours or so, so they could walk a little or have a bathroom break. 

They picked among Scott’s snacks to sustain their hunger all day long, but at 7 at night, Tessa’s stomach grumbled loudly. They had run out of protein bars and candies.

Scott laughed and she blushed, covering her stomach with her arms as if it could block the noise.

“I think we drove a lot today.” Scott announced and Tessa nodded. “What about we stop soon? Walker is just a few miles away.”

Tessa agreed enthusiastically. She was famished and beat. She wanted a warm meal, a bath and a comfortable bed. 

“We could huh, get diner? Find an Apple Bees or an Olive garden?” he suggested and Tessa smiled. She was all in for a good dinner of American comfort food. 

“I vote Olive Garden. I want pasta,” she winked.

Thirty minutes later, Tessa and Scott were sitting face to face in a booth in Walker’s Olive Garden. 

“So hum, good day huh?” Scott said and Tessa had to nod. It had been a good day. Scott had not complained once and she had actually enjoyed talking with him. Maybe the day before was just a really bad day for him and she had to forget this unpleasant experience. Maybe the real Scott was the one she had in front of her. 

They ordered and chatted some more before their meals came and Tessa took her napkin and spread it on her thighs. Scott looked at her in a funny way, but on the opposite of the day before, he had the decency to not make any comment about it. 

Instead of teasing her, he made a joke that made her laugh. He really could be funny when he was in a better mood. 

Still laughing, Tessa took a sip of water and coughed as she choked a little on it. The coughing effort made her ribs feel like fire. She hadn’t taken her painkillers all day long because she was stuck in the car with Scott and didn’t want him to ask questions about it. 

She winced as she coughed and held her ribcage with one hand.

“Tessa? Are you alright?” Scott asked in a worried tone.

Tessa tried to dismiss his worries, but she kept coughing and wasn’t able to mask the pain. 

“Tessa?” he asked once again, handing her a glass of water. She took a few sips and eventually her coughing fit subsided, but she was left with a lot of pain.

“I’m alright, I’m alright,” she tried, but winced again when she took in a big breath and her ribs seemed to protest by shooting a wave of electric pain. Reluctantly, she got her bottle of painkillers out of her purse and took one pill, downing it with water, being careful to not choke on it once again.

“Hum, are you okay Tessa?” Scott asked, eyeing her bottle of painkillers warily.

Tessa sighed. She guessed she needed to explain herself if she didn’t want Scott to think that she was an addict to Dilaudid or something. 

“I huh, was in a, huh, a car accident, recently,” Tessa said, looking down at her lap and fidgeting with her napkin. 

“A car accident? Were, were you hurt?” Scott inquired.

“Yeah huh, some stupid drunk driver didn’t break at the red light and hit my car as I crossed the intersection. The impact was on the passenger’s side so I got lucky; only got a few bruises and broken ribs,” she tried to laugh it off, but she could hear how her unsteady laugh was betraying her and showing Scott that she was still pretty shaken.

“I’m sorry Tessa,” Scott said and he looked really sincere. Tessa was actually taken aback by how shaken he seemed to be by her admission. It was a little weird. She was okay, beside the broken ribs thing. Plus, it wasn’t like any of it was his fault. 

“It’s okay. I got lucky,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, well, it shouldn’t have happened.” Scott replied sternly, fixing his plate.

He looked really uncomfortable and Tessa didn’t know why. He was looking at his plate and wasn’t looking at her anymore. The goofy smile he had sported all day long was gone. 

Wanting to change the subject and make him find back the cheerfulness he had had all day, Tessa tried to talk about other things; “So hum, the hockey season is starting soon,” she tried, knowing how much guys usually loved to talk about sports and all those things.

“What? Why are you saying that?” Scott snapped, looking at her with a weird look in his eyes. 

What was the problem with him? She was just trying to make pleasant conversation. 

“Hum, I don’t know. I just thought it would interest you. You seemed like the kind of guys who love hockey. I just hum, sorry, I guess I made a mistake,” she said, feeling quite confused.

“Yeah well, you don’t know me!” Scott replied harshly and Tessa crossed her arms in front of herself to shield herself from his change in attitude. 

It was going so well. She knew she had to stay vigilant. It seemed that she couldn’t trust Scott. One second he was being kind and the next one he was snapping at her. She had lost her time by trying to get to know him for a whole day. She wouldn’t be fooled again. 

“Alright, I guess, we should go,” Tessa said. She stood up and went to find the waiter, asking for the bill. She paid for both of them and retrieved her coat before heading outside to wait for Scott. She hadn’t touched her food and was still famished, but she didn’t want to spend a single minute more with Scott. She wanted time by herself. 

Scott joined her a short while later, their food in take-out containers. He handed her her plate and she took it, not looking at him. She walked to his car and waited for him to unlock the doors. The both sat in it in silence. 

Scott drove for a few minutes before stopping at a Holiday Inn near the highway. 

They each booked a room before disappearing in their respective room without so much as a good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scott! Come on! You were doing so good ;)


	5. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long delay!! I was pretty busy with life 😅 
> 
> I finally found the time to edit chapter 5 so here it is!
> 
> A new day full of aventure for Tessa and Scott! Will Scott finally stop acting like an ass? 
> 
> Enjoy!

When Scott closed the door to his hotel room that night, he gulped loudly and pressed shaky fists to his eyes. 

Tessa’s admission about her car accident had left him pretty shaken. How would she react if she knew that she was carpooling with someone who had just been arrested for driving drunk, just like the stupid teenager who had collided with her car? She would probably freak out and insist on leaving his car immediately. There was no other way she could react and frankly, he knew that if the roles were reversed he would do just the same. 

Because of that, he decided right then that it was more than ever a piece of information that he needed to keep to himself, for both his and Tessa’s sake. She didn’t need to know something that would hurt her, especially since there was no way he would ever drive drunk again. He would not put her in danger like that; nor her or anyone else. 

He knew that driving while under the influence of alcohol was stupid. He had never taken his car drunk before and he didn’t plan on ever doing that again. He hadn’t been himself that night and he was still mad at himself that he had been so reckless; risking his own life was something, but risking the life of others? He would have never forgiven himself if something had happened. He would be forever thankful that he had been arrested before he could make an even bigger mistake. 

He also felt really bad for how he had once again snapped at Tessa just because she had asked him about hockey. He was just really on the edge because minutes before Tessa had been talking about her accident. When she changed the subject to hockey he snapped because he got afraid that if they talked about that, that she would find out about his real identity and leave. He didn’t want her to know who he really was. He needed her and her pay check too much. He needed the money if he wanted to make it to Vancouver and have a chance to change his life. The chances that she would stay if she knew the truth were too slim to take a chance. So when she started talking about hockey, he had snapped, again. 

After he got to his hotel room and had time to think about it though, he knew there was no way that Tessa knew his real name. She had just chosen that subject because guys usually loved to talk about sports. She just wanted them to talk over dinner. She didn’t deserve the way he had reacted. In fact, she didn’t deserve the shitty way he had been behaving ever since they met. 

Scott knew he had to apologize the next morning, but he feared that this time, Tessa wouldn’t be as much understanding than she had been before. He had been lucky to get a second chance, but he had blown it. He had to deal with the consequences. They were still three days left of driving. He hoped that it would be enough to earn her forgiveness. 

Somehow, he had come to consider that earning Tessa’s respect was his first step towards recovery. He wanted to change his life and his behaviour. It had to start somewhere and being kind with Tessa was probably a good way to start. He was a kind man, he knew it. Life had just thrown him so many shitty bad lucks that he had built a tough exterior, a carapace. He had let too many people in his life who ended up disappointing him while he pushed away his real friends and family. He really needed a do-over. 

So Scott went to bed, promising himself he would do better the next day. 

When he woke up the next morning, his phone was ringing loudly. Scott picked it up to stop his alarm, eyes still blurry with sleep. He gasped when he saw his phone tough. It wasn’t his alarm that was ringing, Tessa was calling him. And he also had a dozen text messages from her and two other missed phone calls. It was already 8:30. 

He hit his head repeatedly with his pillow. In his dismay, he had forgotten to set a stupid alarm on his phone the night before and he had overslept. Tessa was going to be so mad. She was high on being punctual and organized. She wouldn’t be too happy with his omission. 

“Tessa, hey! So, so, so sorry! I forgot to set an alarm last night, I’m coming right away,” he said as he picked up the phone, not letting her time to argue. 

He jumped out of bed, threw all his things in a bag, put on his clothes from the night before that laid haphazardly on a chair and was out the door in 5 minutes. He all but ran to the lobby were Tessa was waiting patiently for him, her suitcases by her side. 

“Look Tessa, I’m so sorry,” he began, but she cut him short.

“I don’t want hear it Scott. I really don’t care. Ever since we met, we just can’t seem to get along. Why don’t we just stop trying and simply admit that we’ll never be friends. I need you to get to Vancouver and you apparently need me to share the fees. From now on we’re just gonna sit in the car, avoid talking to each other and pray we make it to BC without killing each other. You’ll set an alarm every morning, I’ll remind you of that. We’ll start driving at 8 AM, stop every 2 hours for a short break and stop at 12 for lunch. At night, we stop at 8. It’s not up to debate. It’s the only way we’ll make it alive without jumping to each other’s throat. If you want the money that’s the deal I’m suggesting or I swear I’ll find another way to Vancouver” 

Scott looked at her, feeling really small in his shoes. He had apparently ruined all his chances to become friends with Tessa, and he had no one else to blame than himself. 

“Scott, do you agree?” Tessa asked sternly when he didn’t answer. 

“Hum, alright hum, okay. If that’s what you want. I just want to apologize for last night and huh,”

She interrupted him once again; “We both know you’re not that sorry so let’s leave it like that.” 

Scott didn’t say anything, knowing there was no way Tessa would listen to him. He had hurt her too much. 

“Alright, let’s go.” He said. He would need to find another way to prove to Tessa that he wasn’t all that bad. 

They headed to Scott’s car where they took their respective place. Scott’s stomach grumbled when he turned the key in the ignition and he realized with a pang that he wouldn’t get to eat until their first break, two hours later. He had been too much in a hurry to eat. It was all on him and his stupid brain that forgot to set an alarm. 

They drove in uncomfortable silence for close to an hour. Scot tried to change his mind from the situation he had put himself in by watching the scenery; they were following a lake that was boarded by big tall trees. It was peaceful and they did not often encounter other cars. It was a nice drive at least and the sun was high in the sky.

But Scott wasn’t done with bad luck.

Soon enough, Scott heard a loud scary noise and felt a tug on the steering wheel. He knew all too well what had just happened. 

“Damn it!” he cursed, hitting the steering wheel in anger and slowing the car down. 

“What is happening now?” Tessa said, clearly annoyed.

“A fucking flat tire! That’s what is happening!” 

“What?” she said, looking at him, incredulous. 

Scott was annoyed at that. She looked at him as if it was his fault and that didn’t feel really good. It wasn’t as if he had done it on purpose. Those things happened. She didn’t need to look at him like, it wasn’t helping, at all. 

“Well, let’s just stop and change the stupid tire,” Tessa said, rolling her eyes. 

“We can’t!” he exploded, running his hands on his tired face. 

“What do you mean we can’t?” she said.

When he didn’t answer, Tessa got impatient; “Scott, what do you mean we can’t???”

“I don’t have a spare tire!” he admitted shamefully. He didn’t have a spare tire because he had used it the year before and had never judged useful to replace it. It was stupid and careless, but that was what he was, wasn’t it? He was disorganized and reckless. 

“Fuck!” Tessa swore. 

Scott was surprised, never had he heard her swear before. 

“I’m sorry, Tessa,” he tried. He felt like it was all he was doing; apologizing to Tessa Virtue. She annoyed him so much, but at the same time he hated deceiving her. 

“Just stop here okay! We can’t go any further anyway,” she complained.

Scott obeyed, stopping the car on the side of the road. As soon as the engine stopped running, Tessa opened her door and jumped out of the truck. Scott soon followed her. When he got out, she was crouching to the ground, looking at the flat tire. 

“What are we gonna do now? 

“We’ll call for a towing car,” Scott said flatly. 

Tessa nodded and took out her phone. 

“Oh my god, this is ridiculous” she cried out. 

“What?”  
“There’s no cell reception on this stupid road!” 

“What? Impossible” Scott took out his own phone so he could check for himself. He was faced with the same realization; there was no cell reception and they had no way to call for a towing truck. 

“What are we gonna do,” Tessa whined, resting her weight on the truck. Scott felt really bad. He was turning Tessa’s trip in a total nightmare and that was all his fault. Would she even want to pay him after the way he had treated her and had turned her road trip into a series of deceptions? 

He looked around, trying to find inspiration. Maybe they could try to stop a car as it passed by? Asking for their spare tire? He knew it would never happen. People were not too incline on giving their tires to strangers. It was his and Tessa’s problem, no theirs. 

And then he spotted a sign on the side of the road, announcing the next city in 10 miles. He had walked longer distance before. 10 miles; they could do that in 3 hours maybe? 

“We can walk to the closest city?” he suggested.

Tessa glared at him, but then her face fell. She also knew that it was most likely their only option. 

“Alright,” she said, giving in; “How far is it?”

Scott answered her and pointed her the sigh he had seen. She looked truly unsure and Scott was felt once again with a pang of guilt. He should have at least make sure he had a spare tire before he invited a stranger to drive across North America with him. 

“10 miles huh?” she repeated and Scott nodded. 

“I can go by myself and you wait in the car, if you prefer?” he suggested, thinking that maybe she was too shy to ask. After the way he had repeatedly snapped at her, it wouldn’t surprise him. 

“What? So I can get attack by a stranger who’ll pass by? No, I’m coming with you,” she said, shaking her head and finally making up her mind.

And so they started to walk. Scott only prayed that his truck wouldn’t get towed by the police or something while they were both gone. An empty truck on the side of the road was always suspicious. Or what if their belongings got stolen? 

Shaking his head, knowing it would do no good to worry, Scott tried to change by looking at the scenery surrounding them. Soon enough though, he went back to worrying. The sun was high in the sky and even though it was September, Scott was burning. Tessa had brought water bottles, but they were not going to last long with the heat. Plus, he didn’t have good shoes on and he knew his feet would be covered in blisters at the end of the day. This thing was a total pain in the ass.

They tried to stop cars as they passed by, but no one seemed too inclined on welcoming two strangers walking on the highway. People probably feared they were thieves or something, and he couldn’t blame them.

After an hour and a half, Scott noticed that Tessa was slowing down and it took all his restrain for him to not lash out at her again. It was hot, and there was nothing to shield them from the sun. Plus, she had broken ribs. Who was he to complain that she wasn’t fast enough? 

He looked at his phone when they passed by a new sign announcing the next city in 6 miles. They had walked 4 miles in an hour and a half. That was less than he had anticipated. It was nearing lunch time, he had skipped breakfast and their water stock was getting dangerously low. 

He turned around, wanting to ask Tessa if she finally had cell reception, but he panicked when he didn’t see her at first. He could have sworn she was following him and no one had passed by in a very long time.

Suddenly he saw her. She was sitting on the side of the road, head pressed to her knees, almost 400 meters away. 

“Tessa!” he yelled, a little worried. What the hell was she doing? People in their cars could miss her seating on the side of the highway like that and she could get seriously hurt.

“Just a minute!” he heard her yell back.

Sighing, Scott used his hand as a sunshade and tried to have a better look at Tessa. Had she twisted her foot or something? She was holding her legs in a tight grip.

Shaking his head, Scott walked back towards her, a little worried. If she had hurt herself there was no way he was leaving her alone on the highway like that. But what could he do? Offer her a piggy back ride? 

As he got closer, he realized that she was indeed holding her legs in pain, and tears were running down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m coming,” she said as she saw him, drying her tears with the back of her hand. 

She meant to get up, but as she stood, Scott could see the pain reflected in her eyes. It was impossible she could walk 6 miles like that.

“What happened?” he asked. He didn’t understand. Had she twisted both her feet? He had realized she could be a klutz, but not that much. 

“I huh,” she started before a few more tears ran down her cheeks. She sat back on the concrete, her head bend in defeat. 

“I huh, have chronic compartment syndrome,” she said so low that he almost didn’t hear.

Scott sat next to her; “What is that?”

“I used to be a ballerina. Danced 6 hours a day plus shows and training in the gym. Apparently my muscles got too tight in their envelope and that restricts the blood flow. It hurts like hell. I had surgery once,” she said, and Scott saw the faint white lines running down her shins; scars. “Didn’t work,” she finished, shrugging. 

“So it hurts like that whenever you exercise?” Scott guessed and Tessa nodded.

“Yup. I quit ballet and went back to school. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I had no choice. I’m glad now though. I have a job I love. If it wasn’t for that stupid pain I wouldn’t care that much.”

“What can I do to help?” Scott asked, feeling helpless. He knew all too well what it felt like to have to give up on something you love. Tessa had given up ballet just like he had had to say goodbye to hockey.

“Nothing much. Usually I just massage the muscles until the cramps and the burning feeling subside.”

Without thinking it over, Scott moved so he faced Tessa and took one of her legs in his hands. Gently, he started massaging the muscles. 

“What are you doing?” he heard her ask, but he didn’t stop. He was concentrated on the task; massaging the pain away. 

“Helping you,” he offered her as a simple answer.

“It’s okay you don’t need to,” Tessa protested, but Scott continued anyway. When he had first taken her leg in his hands, he had felt the muscles rock hard, completely edematous and full of pressure. He could only figure how much it hurt. After only a minute of massaging though, he could feel the tension slowly being released. 

“Scott, it’s okay,” she repeated, wringing her leg so it was free from his grasp. 

“Let me help, Tess, please,” he repeated, this time looking her in the eyes.

He heard her take a shape intake of breath and she nodded silently, letting him take her leg back in his hands. He held it gently before going back to massaging it, making sure that the tension was released in both her legs. 

Ten minutes later, Scott had successfully massaged the pain away. When he offered his hand to help Tessa get up, she took it and smiled, thanking him. Somehow he knew that it had brought them closer. 

“Thank you, Scott, really,” Tessa said and Scott only nodded. He was glad he could help for once instead of ruining the trip. 

“It’s no problem, we should huh,” he said, pointing to the road ahead. “Are you okay to continue?” he asked. 

“I think so, I mean we have no other choice and I’m starving. We need to get to the next town. What time is it?” 

Scott looked at his phone it was 12 PM. Then he noticed the one bar of reception on the upper corner and almost scream in joy. Quickly, he used his 3G to find the number of the closest garage and dialed it.

Two hours later, he and Tessa were sitting side by side in an air-conditioned waiting room. The mechanic was working on changing his tire and he was happily munching on an egg sandwich he had bought from a vending machine. It didn’t matter where it was coming from, it was the best egg sandwich he had ever eaten. 

“Thank you again, for huh, you know,” Tessa said as she finished her own sandwich.

“Look Tessa, I really think we had a wrong debut, but we can start over. I’m sorry for snapping at you and for acting like a dick. Truth is, I too lost something that meant a lot to me. I used to play hockey and even though I stopped years ago, I’m not like you. I haven’t found what I want to do with my life yet and sometimes it puts me in a funk.” 

“That’s why you acted that way yesterday? When I asked about hockey?” she asked and he had no other choice than too agree.

Tessa nodded; “Scott, you need to trust me if you want us to not be at each other’s throat 24/7 alright?” 

He chuckled softly; “Alright”

“Scott Moore?” a mechanic interrupted them, using Scott’s fake name, as he came into the room, cleaning his oily hands on a soiled cloth. 

“Yeah, that’s me,” he said standing up, feeling a little nervous. He really needed his car to be ready to go and he really didn’t have enough money for it to cost a fortune. 

“Your truck is all ready to go,” the old man announced happily and Scott smiled. 

“Thank you very much sir,” 

He paid with his credit card, hoping the payment would pass. And it did.

Afterwards, he and Tessa made their way back to the car. They had time to make up for. 

He was somewhat glad for the flat tire though. It had given them the opportunity to finally talk and realize that even though it hadn’t seemed like it at first, he and Tessa were more alike than they thought. They both had suffered from injuries that took their life project away. The difference was that Tessa had succeeded where he had failed; she had found a new meaning to her life. Maybe he could learn from her. 

They spent the rest of the day driving and for the first time ever since they met, they had genuine fun as they talked and shared information from their private lives. Scott enjoyed learning about Tessa’s years as a ballet dancer. He was really impressed to learn that she had been offered a position at the National Ballet School at only 9 years old. In return, he told her about hockey. He hid everything about his professional career though. No matter that he and Tessa finally seemed to get along, he didn’t want to ruin it all by revealing his real identity and the fact that he had been arrested for driving drunk just a short while ago.   
At eight that night, respecting his promise, Scott stopped again, this time in a small town called New Salem in North Dakota. It was rural and there was not a lot of things to see so they went directly to the only motel of the town. It was old and decorated like it was still stuck in the eighties. But there were a lot of cars and trucks in the parking lot though. It seemed like a popular pit stop. 

Scott jumped out of the truck and took out both his and Tessa’s suitcases, rolling them towards the motel entrance. As he pushed the door, a bell announced their entrance and a woman in her fifties with giant aviator glasses, neon pink lipstick and tacky neon yellow hoops earrings came out of her office, the multicolor pearl curtain that separated the two rooms jingling behind her. 

“How can I help?” she asked, her voice hoarse from years of smoking. 

“Hum, we would like two rooms please,” Scott asked.

“Two huh? Sorry honey, there is only one double room left,” the woman shrugged; “You want it or not?” 

Scott swallowed. One room? Only one room left in the crappy motel? How was it possible? He looked at Tessa, trying to gauge her feelings.

“We can drive a bit more,” he suggested even though his whole body was screaming with fatigue. It was their third day on this road trip and it was taking its toll. Plus, they had walked a long distance under the sun because of the flat tire. All he dreamed about was a bed and a long night of sleep. 

He waited for Tessa’s answer and as he looked at her, he saw all the conflicted emotions on her face. 

“Alright kids, you need to take a decision cause my TV show is about to start,” said the woman, pointing to the TV in her office.

“It’s okay, we’ll take the room” 

Scott looked at Tessa, surprised. That was not what he had expected to hear from her. 

“You sure?” He really needed Tessa to feel comfortable about this. No longer than twelve hours ago, they hated each other. It was quite a quick turn of events to share a room. 

“It’s okay, really. It’s not as if we’re going to share a bed,” 

Scott didn’t know why, but at that he felt himself blush and felt butterflies deep in his stomach. It was stupid. It was he and Tessa they were talking about. Sharing a bed with her would be a nightmare. She would probably have icy cold feet and complain about him snoring. No? 

“Alright, if it’s good with you,”

And just like that, they ended up in room 1016, together. 

“Well, isn’t it charming,” Tessa said, a mortified look on her face as she took in their surroundings. It was clearly the crappiest motel room they both had ever seen. 

“What are you doing?” Scott asked as he saw her take the comforter off the beds. 

“Do you have an idea how many people did god knows what on those? They probably have never been washed,”

Thousands of imaged came to Scott’s mind and he shook his head, trying to get rid of them; “Huh, take it off, please,” 

Tessa laughed. 

“You want to shower first?” Scott asked as he took out his pyjamas for the night.

“Thank you,” 

While he heard the water running, Scott had a hard time trying to get the image of a naked Tessa out of his mind and that took him by surprise. What was up with him? First he blushed at the idea of sharing a bed with her and then the images of her naked in the shower? It was probably the exhaustion that caused him to think like that. It was ridiculous.

His stomach grumbled, taking his mind off the dangerous road it was on. They hadn’t eaten anything more than an egg sandwich at the garage in more than 12 hours. He needed to find food. 

Scott took his wallet and left the room after leaving a note for Tessa in case she was looking for him. He had spotted a diner not so far from the motel. Greasy burgers and french fries would be perfect after a disastrous day. 

He came back twenty minutes later with the food and didn’t knock before he yanked the door open. He couldn’t wait to attack his cheeseburger. 

“Ahhhhh!” he heard Tessa yell as he entered the room.

He looked up to see her in nothing but a blush pink lacy bra and matching panties. She was trying, not really successfully, to hide herself with a towel. 

“Scott! Look away!” she cried and he blushed, covering his eyes with the bad of food. He hadn’t realized he had been staring at her, but could she really blame him? He hadn’t expected to come in to that! Why wasn’t she wearing clothes? 

“I’m sorry! Really, really sorry!” he repeated over and over again, still hiding behind the paper bag.

“It’s okay, I’m dressed now, you can look,” Tessa said after a few minutes. 

Carefully, he peeked from behind his bag and let out a sigh of relief when he saw Tessa dressed in her pyjamas; long sleeve and long pants pyjamas. She was crossing her arms over her stomach, self-consciously. 

“I’m really sorry, I didn’t know you’d be there, I swear.”

Tessa sighed; “I know, it’s just, I figured you would knock or something when you’d come back.”

“Are you mad?” he asked, fearful. He couldn’t have made her mad again, not when they were finally getting along.

“Of course not. If I am anything it is sorry for surprising you like that,” she said chuckling softly. 

Scott let himself laugh as the tension was lifted up from the room. He was glad Tessa wasn’t mad at him. “Well, I bought food, let it be my way to apologize,” he winked. 

They ate their burgers together, laughing and sharing jokes, the incident long forgotten. In fact, Scott didn’t think about it anymore until later that night, when the lights were all turned off and they were both in their respective bed, willing sleep to come. Somehow, he couldn’t shake off the image of Tessa dressed in nothing but her underwear. 

She had been absolutely breath taking. How was is that he hadn’t realized before how beautiful she was? She was far from the type of girls he usually went after, but that was what made her even more beautiful. Whereas his usual girlfriends had blond hair and dressed in short skirts, Tessa had striking green eyes and the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. How come he was only realizing it? And it wasn’t the fact that he saw her half naked that made him see how pretty she was, no, it was after, seeing her sitting on the bed with him, chatting and eating burgers like they were long term friends, the way she smiled and the way her eyes light up when she talked about her sister, that was made her beautiful. 

But no matter how beautiful Tessa was, he wouldn’t do anything. No, he needed to get them to Vancouver, not act like an hormonal teenager. 

He wouldn’t mess up again.


	6. Day 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!
> 
> Sorry for the long delay! I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last update!! I've recently been on a vacation to my cottage and decided at the last minute to not bring my laptop as to really enjoy two weeks of time free of emails and notifications. It was great, but it delayed the update of chapter 6.
> 
> I worked extremely hard since I got back to post it as fast as I could though :)
> 
> Hopefully you all like it!
> 
> A big thank you to all of you who still take the time to read my stuff :)

The next morning, the sunrays peeking through the thin curtains barely covering the crappy motel room’s window woke Tessa up well before her alarm clock. She was one of those light sleepers who needed a room to be completely dark in order to stay asleep passed dawn, something the illuminated motel room didn’t allow. 

Knowing she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep with that much light flooding in the room, Tessa suppressed a yawn and turned under the sheets so she faced Scott who, on the opposite, laid in the other bed, still fast asleep. He looked like a kid with his messy hair and the soft smile that graced his features. She smiled as she saw him readjust his position in his sleep and he groaned softly when he found the perfectly comfortable spot, eliciting a chuckle from her. 

Watching him, she was taken back to the moment they had shared the day before, when her legs were throbbing with that horrible burning pain she knew too well. In contrast to the awful cramps, his touch had been so relieving as he gently massaged the pain away. 

When they first met, she hadn’t planned on ever telling Scott about her dance injury. She usually preferred to keep that part of her life to herself because of how vulnerable it made her feel. So when she felt the first aching waves shoot through her legs the day before, she tried to push through as best as she could and she hid her pain until she could barely stand anymore. 

Ultimately though, she was glad that she had been forced to tell him the truth. It had brought them closer somehow to realize that they had more in common than they thought. 

Usually, when she told people about her injury, they felt uncomfortable and didn’t know how to react, saying how sorry they were and looking at her with pity. But Scott didn’t. He understood what she had gone through because he too had lost his passion, hockey, because of injury. So instead of looking awkward and pitiful, he had offered her actual help by massaging her legs until the pain subsided. It was the first time someone had helped her like that. And she was so grateful. 

“What are you thinking about?” she heard Scott ask and she looked up to see that he had just woken up and was staring at her, sleep still clouding his warm chocolate brown eyes.

“You,” she answered before blushing at how it must have sounded to his ears. “I mean, I was thinking about yesterday and my legs and I wanted to say thank you again for, you know. It really helped so, thanks,” 

“You need to stop thanking me Tessa,” Scott said, resting his head on his folded arm to have a better look at her. 

“Well then, let me say it for one last time; Thank you Scott, really,”

Silence fell between them before Scott interrupted it again; “You know, I really wish I was like you,” 

Tessa sat in the bed, surprised to hear him say that. “What? An organized freak who needs to control everything?” she said with a self-depreciating laugh, knowing it was how most people perceived her. It was how Scott told her he saw her when they first met. 

“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” he chastised. “I know I was really mean to you when we first met and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. But you are not what you just said.”

She shrugged; “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not.” Judging by the look on his face, Tessa could tell how genuinely sorry he was and she appreciated it. 

“How about you take me for breakfast to be forgiven and then we never talk about it again?” she suggested, feeling like they had both apologized enough for everything they had done wrong in the past three days. 

Scott smirked, getting up excitedly; “Deal!”

That was how they found themselves, an hour later, seating face to face in a booth at Joe’s Diner, the sole view of their plates full of scrambled eggs and pancakes making them salivate as the waitress put the food in front of them. They attacked their meal quickly, feeling ravenous after the last three days of eating only tasteless protein bars for breakfast. 

Mouth full of buttered toast, Tessa chuckled when Scott got some of the whipped cream from his berry pancakes on his nose. She had to refrain herself from whipping it away with her finger. Instead, she pointed him his nose playfully and, laughing, he whipped it clean with his napkin, a mischievous look in his eyes. Seconds later, she yelped as Scott spread whipped cream on her nose in return.

“Scott!” she shrieked, laughing as she took her own napkin to clean the mess.

He just winked at her in return and she shook her head. The Tessa Virtue she usually was would have been mortified at finding herself in such a situation; sitting in a sticky fake leather booth in a dirty American diner, eating greasy breakfast at 9:15 while they were already supposed to be on the road, with a guy who drove an old rusted pick up? All that while being covered in whipped cream? That used to be stuff she imagined in her nightmares. But with Scott, it was different. For the first time in her life, she loved feeling a little spontaneous and letting herself have a little fun. 

“Can I ask you a question?” 

Tessa looked up from her toasts to see Scott staring at her, a serious expression on his face, and she nodded, wondering what was bothering him.

He took a big breath; “How did you do it? Find a new meaning to your life I mean? It’s been years since I’ve had to let go of hockey and I can’t seem to find anything that brings me joy as much as the sport did,”

“Then do something that keeps you in the world of hockey!” she replied simply. 

She remembered when she first learned that she wouldn’t be able to dance again. When she had first woken up from her surgery she thought that everything would go well, that her life would get back on tracks, just like it was before she first started to feel that lancinating pain in both her shins. When months later she finally resumed training and the pain came back faster and stronger than ever, she felt like her whole world crumbled. So she went to see a sport therapist and even though it didn’t give her back her health, it gave her the time to think about what she wanted to do next. That was how she ended up enrolling herself in her first psychology class and then more and more classes until she got her degree and became a sport psychologist herself. She specialized in dance and self-esteem with young girls. She knew how hard it was to grow up in a world where you’re constantly under a critical eye. If she could help teenage girls just like she had been helped herself, or older girls who were just as lost as she had once been, then she knew she had found the new meaning to her life. 

“Is that what you did? By becoming a sport therapist?” Scott asked, sounding a little lost. 

She nodded; “I always loved psychology so I figured it was the best way for me to stay involved in the sport. What’s the thing you love the most in life besides hockey?” 

“I don’t know, my nieces and nephews?” he said, more as a question than a statement and Tessa smiled. 

“Then what about being a hockey coach, eh?” she tried but he shook his head.

“Maybe, but teaching hockey to ten years old every Monday night can hardly be called a career.” 

“You could open a hockey school? Or a hockey gear store? Or become a sport teacher in primary school?” she suggested, brainstorming ideas for him. 

“I don’t’ know, I don’t think I would be really good at that, I…” he trailed off and Tessa shook her head. He really needed to believe more in himself. She hadn’t known him for that long, but she could feel that he would an excellent teacher, or coach, or store manager. 

“You don’t need to go and open a hockey school in the next hour, just think about it, okay?” she tried, knowing that life-changing decisions needed more than a few seconds of thinking. 

He nodded silently and while Scott was on the way of imagining his new career, the waiter came back with the check and Tessa paid, insisting to take care of it since Scott was already so kind to be the one driving all day long. 

Once it was settled, they headed back to Scott’s truck and they took their respective places in the car before heading on the road, well decided on making up for the lost time the day before. 

They put music on all day long, all sorts of various styles; The Tragically Hip, Jim Cuddy, Pink Floyd, Santana, and so much more. They talked and laughed. It seemed that Scott thought she was hilarious, something she had a hard time believing. Apparently, she had yet to work on her joke delivery though, something Scott promised they would work on. When he talked like that, like they were going to keep their friendship, or whatever it was between them, alive after they made it to BC, she felt a little anxious. What if they never saw each other again after the road trip? It was a very real possibility. After all, they were pure strangers who hated each other the minute they met only four days before. But they had become friends, sort of, and she didn’t want to stop seeing him after their road trip. She realized that she was comfortable with him. He made her get out of her comfort zone, but in a good way. She didn’t want to lose that. 

Since it made her anxious to think about it, she decided to push those thoughts to the far back of her head. As long as the road trip wasn’t over, she didn’t want to waste energy worrying. She wanted to enjoy every single minute of it. 

And she did for the day, but by nine that night, the rain started pouring down and Tessa got nervous again. It was dark outside and heavy clouds hanged low in the sky, dumping tons of water on the roads. Water could get slippery, especially on highways. And it could lead to car accidents. She wasn’t ready for a second accident, her ribs still throbbed if she overdid it. 

“We should huh, stop somewhere before it gets too dangerous,” she suggested and she was relieved when Scott approved. 

“Yeah, it’s getting pretty ugly out there,” he agreed before taking the first exit they passed by on the highway. 

They ended up in a small town, so small that there wasn’t even a motel. But the rain was getting pretty bad and thunderstorms had started. They both decided that it was safer to stop and wait for the storm to at least calm down rather than to get back on the highway in those conditions. 

Scott drove them around the small town, trying to find a diner or a grocery store or anywhere really where they could stop at to stretch their legs and find some food. Everything seemed to be closed except for a shady looking bar; Luke’s saloon. The parking was packed with old Chevy, men in their sixties, wearing checkered shirts and sporting untamed beards were smoking in front of the bar and loud country music could be heard all the way across the street. 

Tessa gulped loudly and looked at Scott who sported a similar expression on his face. He too probably thought that it wasn’t the best place they could have found to stop at, but it was their only chance to find something to eat and find shelter until the rain subsided. 

Reluctantly, they parked the car in front of Luke’s saloon and Tessa followed Scott inside. She walked close to him as she knew she wasn’t exactly the type of girls who usually frequented those places. She could feel the stare of the old men on her and it was quite uncomfortable.

The tables were all full, but there were two seats left side by side at the bar. They sat and ordered a handful of snacks since no real meal was offered on the menu; chicken wings, chips, fried mozzarella, nachos. Not the healthiest, but in that moment Tessa didn’t care, she was too hungry for that. 

They dug in their food with appetite as soon as it came and Tessa laughed out loud when she saw Scott’s cheeks covered with the sticky sauce from the chicken wings. He excused himself to get cleaned up and Tessa was left alone at the bar, picking at the last nachos left, the ones with no toppings nor sauce. 

Soon enough though, the empty seat beside her was filled by a man, maybe five or six years older than her, and very tipsy. 

“Hey beautiful,” he said, so close that she felt his hot breath on her neck and she squinted her nose at the foul smell of bad breath mixed with beer and BBQ peanuts.

She tried to ignore him, thinking that if she did he would go away, but he didn’t.

“What’s up my doll, you don’t wanna talk?” the guy asked, slurring, and Tessa shuddered at the degrading nickname. She was certainly not a doll, even less his doll. 

“Go away,” she sighed, turning in her seat so she faced away from him.

But the guy didn’t take the cue; “How about a little bit of fun instead?” he asked standing up and getting behind her to grope her breasts.

At that, she bolted in her seat and stood up quickly to face him, fire burning in her eyes. In a swift motion, remembering the self-defense class she had taken with Jordan after a particularly unpleasant encounter on a dark street in Toronto, she kneeled the drunk where she knew it would hurt. 

“What the hell bitch?” the guy groaned in pain as he stumbled on his unsteady drunken legs. 

“Don’t you talk to me like that,” she said looking at him threateningly and the guy seemed to finally understand. He walked away, leaving Tessa alone and the whole bar got quiet as all the clients looked at her, half impressed and half scared. 

She sat back in her seat, hands shaking. When she was 21, while she was walking back home after a long night of studying at the library, she had been grabbed from behind by a drunk in a side street of downtown Toronto. Before she had time to react, the guy was already pulling up her skirt and unbuttoning her shirt. When she tried to squirm out of his grasp, she realized that he was too strong and she panicked. She had been lucky that some stranger passed by and saw the whole encounter, scaring the guy away. After that close call, she had forced Jordan to take self defense classes with her and it had been the best decision of her life. She never wanted to find herself in that situation ever again. 

She knew that the guy who had just come to her would probably not have tried anything in the middle of the bar. Plus, Scott wasn’t far, but she felt really safer knowing she had the power to defend herself. 

“That, was impressive,” said Scott as he sat back in his seat, looking at her with a stunned look on his face.

“You saw that?” she said shyly, feeling a little vulnerable knowing that Scott had witnessed that embarrassing moment.

“Yeah, where did you learn to kick like that?” he joked and Tessa looked at him somberly, telling him the story about what led her to take self defense classes. 

“I’m really sorry,” 

She shrugged; “Nothing serious happened and frankly, I’m almost glad that this guy grabbed me all those years ago because it made me realize that I needed to learn how to protect myself.”

“Yeah well you did, I wouldn’t want to be that guy right now,” Scott joked and Tessa allowed herself to smile. He seemed genuinely impressed by her kicking skills. 

“You’re quite the feisty little thing,” said another man as he came near her and Tessa tensed visibly. 

“Leave my girlfriend alone,” Scott said as he encircled her waist with his arm, taking her by surprise.

“Sorry man, just wanted to tell her that I was impressed,” said the man before leaving with a new beer to join his group of drunken friends.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Tessa said, shaking her head. She was perfectly capable of defending herself, just like she had just proven it with the other asshole who touched her without her consent. 

“I know, but maybe like that we’ll actually get the chance to spend the night without being bothered by anyone new. Just because you know how to defend yourself doesn’t mean you should have too,” Scott said, scooting his chair closer to hers and leaving his hand on her waist.

His hot touch gave her shivers that she tried to hide by moving in her chair. What was happening with her? It was Scott. Yes, he had recently become her friend, but she wasn’t supposed to feel that way just because of a simple touch, no?

She then took the time to look at him carefully for what seemed like the first time. He was handsome. With his messy hair and his boyish grin, he was far from the type of men she usually went after; tall business men who wore expensive suits and kept their hair short and clean. Somehow, on Scott, she really liked the way his hair was slightly long and she wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers in the locks of brown hair at the base of his neck.

“Tessa?” she heard him say her name insistently. She blushed realizing she had been caught zoning out. If he knew what she had just been thinking about!

“Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was just asking if you wanted another beer,” he said, smirking. 

She looked out the window to see that the rain was still pouring down, lightning striking the sky; “Hum, sure, why not?” she said, feeling like they would be stuck inside the bar for quite some time. 

The bartender came back with their drinks and Tessa took a big gulp, thinking that maybe the alcohol would help her forget how wonderful Scott’s arm felt around her waist. Maybe it was just because she felt lonely since her breakup with Philip? Human touch was comforting. Yes, that was it, it wasn’t Scott’s touch she loved so much, but a comforting touch in general. 

“You want to dance?” Scott said in her ear, his breath tingling her skin just like the one of the guy she had kicked earlier. This time though, instead of making her shudder in repulsion, it felt like a soft caress on her skin. 

She shook her head off the unwelcomed thoughts and nodded to Scott, following him closely to the small “dancefloor” in the middle of the room, not once letting go of his hand. 

It was country music and she was a ballet dancer. She wasn’t exactly in her element, but Scott seemed to enjoy himself so much that she found herself having fun too. She tried letting lose a little instead of sticking to stiff posture like she had done all her life. Scott probably sensed her discomfort and uneasiness at dancing such a different style than what she was used to, because he took both her hands in his and guided her movements on the dancefloor. 

Soon, she was laughing out loud as he guided them, purposefully acting like a fool so he could make her laugh. 

They danced for what felt like minutes when really it lasted close to two hours. By the time they were finally exhausted, they were one of the last people in the bar and they realized with relief that the rain had stopped.

“We should huh, find somewhere to sleep for the night,” Tessa said as she looked at her phone, surprised to see that it was already 2 in the morning.

“Yeah,” Scott looked at his phone too before back at her, doubt clouding his eyes.

“Do you really think we’ll find a motel at this time of the night?” he asked, sounding sorry.

Tessa sighed; “I guess we have no other choice than to try.”

“Do you trust me?” Scott asked suddenly, taking her by surprise.

Tessa nodded as soon as he asked and she smiled when she realized that only 24 hours ago, she would have answered with a big no, without thinking about it twice. 

“Of course I do,” 

Scott guided her outside to his truck and looked at her with a touch of uncertainty in his eyes. “We can sleep in my truck, I put the hood over the trunk this afternoon so it’s all dry and it locks so we don’t have to worry about people barging in or anything.”

Tessa looked at him, hesitant. It was 2 in the morning, she was exhausted and there wasn’t a single motel room in the crappy town they had stumbled in. Scott’s truck was probably their best option. That or getting back on the road, but they both had a few beers and Tessa knew she wouldn’t feel comfortable getting back on the road like that, especially not after the car accident she had recently been in. 

“Alright, I guess we have no other choice,” she agreed to Scott’s proposition, hoping she wouldn’t regret it. 

Settling for the night turned out to be a challenge. After going back to the bar’s bathroom to brush their teeth, a sanitary experience Tessa would rather never have to repeat, they took turns to change in the trunk of the car, trying to avoid hitting their elbows or breaking something as they managed the tight space. When they were all set, they climbed inside the truck awkwardly and laid side by side on the blanket Scott had used to cover the floor of the trunk. It was hard and uncomfortable, but it was better than sleeping outside. 

But it was an extremely tight space. So tight that she feared that she and Scott would end up in a compromising situation during the night.

But would it be that bad? She wondered in her head. Why did she fear so much admitting that she actually liked Scott? She had loved his touch earlier in the bar and had really appreciated the way he had taken care of her legs the day before. She was used to be independent, to taking care of her own matters. Her relationship with Philipp was all about being independent and having a boyfriend only because that was what social conventions expected her to do. She had never really wanted to relinquish in Philipp’s touch. But Scott’s? She thought she would like it. 

He was her total opposite yet they were so similar. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad for once to let her heart instead of her head take a decision. 

Heart beating wildly at those inner admissions, she turned on her side slowly until she faced him. 

Scott too turned so he faced her, looking at her intently. 

Feeling bolder that she had ever been, Tessa allowed herself to scoot closer to Scott. When he didn’t flinch nor back off, she scooted even closer, until he opened his arms and she buried herself in his warm safe hold.

She fell asleep seconds later.


	7. Day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> I am really sorry for the once again extremely long delay between this and the last chapter... I was a little down after hearing the news of Scott's engagement and didn't feel anymore like writing a love story between he and Tessa when the reality is so far from it. 
> 
> I got over it though and realized that while they may not be in love in real life, what they created on the ice will never be erased and that was the story of two people undoubtedly in love. I'll never stop believing that they love each other, I just think that they didn't find the way to make it work.
> 
> It's why I've decided I want to finish this story. Because at least this version of Tessa and Scott deserve a fairytale ending.
> 
> Today's chapter is sweet and fluffy. Enjoy!

For Scott, there was simply no better feeling than when you are in that little moment, you know, when you are just between dreamless sleep and full wakefulness, when you feel half awake and you can’t really register what is happening around you in the real world, but you feel oh so comfortable; snuggled up under heavy covers, shielded from your problems and your real life. When you are kind of aware that you are sleeping and having pleasant dreams? Yeah, that feeling was the best. 

The previous years had been hard for Scott, and that feeling had probably been his best escape, the only place where he felt truly safe and hidden from the ugly truth that was his life. For years, he had yearned for that feeling every time he was awake and whenever he could, he had gone to sleep, praying he could enjoy it to its fullest; a tiny bit of peace in a life that was far from perfect.

So that fifth morning into his road trip, Scott was quite surprised when he felt that exact same way when he started waking up. At first, he thought it was because he had ended in a comfy luxury hotel room under piles of duvet comforters or something, but when his sleepy mind finally registered that it was impossible because of the state of his bank account, he froze. Why was he so comfortable then? 

Sleepiness left his mind slowly and he realized that he was laying on some really hard surface. He could feel the tension in his shoulders from sleeping on what was close to concrete. So no, it wasn’t the place he had slept at that made him feel so safe and contended. But where was he? And why was he feeling that way?

That’s when the fact that he was sleeping in his car’s trunk came back to him. What was he doing sleeping in his truck? 

He didn’t open his eyes, mind still a little too cloudy to do so, but instead tried to find out why he was feeling so at ease. That was when he felt it. He was feeling all warm and cozy because there was something, rather someone, all curled up against him, and he had wrapped his arms tightly around that person’s sleeping form. 

So it wasn’t his truck, but rather the someone he was sharing his sleeping arrangements with that had elicited that feeling from him. He opened his eyes with shock; he was feeling that way because he was all cuddled up with Tessa Virtue. 

The events from the night before came back to him in a rush; the drive, the storm, the shady bar, dancing with Tessa and then, the fact that she had cuddled up with him before they fell asleep. At that he tensed, realizing that while Tessa had willingly engulfed herself in his arms the night before, much to his own pleasure he had to admit, they had shifted to a much more compromising position during the night. Somehow, Tessa had turned around in his arms sometime during the night, so they ended up spooning, and one of his legs had slipped between her own, so their hips were close, very, very close. 

Scott didn’t know what Tessa would think of the situation, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her while she couldn’t speak for herself. But then, just as he was thinking about pushing her away, Tessa moved in her sleep, taking his hand that rested on her hips and bringing it across her stomach so they were even closer, just before she wriggled her hips a little as she adjusted her position, his thigh pressing between her legs. At the movement, she made what was probably the sexiest sound Scott had ever heard and that, combined with the heat he felt emanating from her, made him groan. How could he resist? Tessa, unconsciously at least, was not completely against the two of them getting close, that was good to know.

Enjoying the feeling of Tessa in his arms, Scott started to think back to when they first met and realized just how much he had grown to like her in just a few short days. He really, really liked her. He had met hundreds of girls before and had spent nights with dozens of them, but somehow, he had never had as much fun as he did with Tessa and he had never felt more comfortable, more himself, the Scott he so desperately wanted to be, than when he was with her. 

 

He hadn’t even had sex with Tessa and that was perhaps the best part. To feel so close to someone when they had just cuddled? That was totally new territory to him who usually ended up in some girl’s arms on the first night he met her, only to forget her name the next day. With Tessa, he felt like he wanted to know all about her and it frightened him just as much as it excited him.

He had embarked on this journey to find a way to change and go back to being the guy he used to be. Maybe Tessa was the key to that change, not Chiddy’s cabin in the woods. He loved the person he was with her and for the first time in a really long time, he knew that if they could see him, his family would finally be proud of who he was.

All that because of Tessa. 

He watched her sleep for a good fifteen minutes, relinquishing in the feeling of complete happiness at sharing such an intimate moment. When Scott finally had the guts to check his phone, he realized with a pang that it was already 9 in the morning. It was the second morning in a row that they were going to hit the roads much later than what was planned. He knew that they would officially need an extra day instead of the initial 5 days they had planned for this road trip. There was too long of a drive left. It didn’t really bother him though; anything that could prolong his time with Tessa was more than welcome, at least until he could found a way to tell her how he didn’t want to never see her again. 

Still, they couldn’t spend the whole day sleeping in the back of his truck in the parking of a shady bar. He felt guilty at the prospect of waking Tessa up when she looked so peaceful, but Scott knew he had no other choice. He needed to have a conversation with her about what they planned to do for the day and for the driving.

But he didn’t know if he should try to push Tessa away before he woke her up? He wondered how she would feel finding out their…intimate predicament. But then he remembered how she had willingly engulfed herself in his arms the night before and he decided to jump. If she got mad at finding out how close they were, at least he would know she didn’t feel the same way… But if she didn’t… Well, he felt all anxious and excited as he thought about what that could mean. Taking a big breath, he plunged; 

“Tess,” he whispered softly in her ear, smiling as he heard her moan in her sleep. He insisted; “Tess, wake up.”

“What?” she groaned, keeping her eyes tightly shut.

“It’s already 9 AM, we need to get on the road,” he said as softly as he could, not wanting to unsettle her to much when she looked so peaceful. 

“No,” she groaned and he chuckled at that.

She had not pushed him away yet and Scott took it as a good sign. “What no? We can’t hide here all day long,” he said grinning.

“But I’m so comfy,” she protested.

He didn’t know if it was because he felt safe, sheltered from the world under the hood of his trunk, but he felt at that moment that anything was possible, that maybe he and Tessa were possible. 

Feeling oh so completely bold, he took in a big breath before bending down to kiss Tessa on the temple. 

He felt her tense at that and he wondered briefly if he had made the wrong move, but then she turned around in his arms and he realized with much relief that she was smiling shyly. 

“Hey,” she said, looking at him.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling back.

She chuckled a little at that and it attracted his eyes to her rosy lips. Her lips were so inviting, slightly parted. He couldn’t take his eyes away. She ran her tongue on her lips and he heard her breath become a little shallow. His heart rate accelerated at that. He could feel the tension in the air, heavy, almost palpable. There was literal electricity running between he and Tessa, he could feel it and he knew Tessa felt it too. 

He inched his mouth only a little closer to hers and he grinned when he saw Tessa do the same. Inch by inch, they got closer, his heart beating so wildly that he felt it was about to jump out of his chest. Never in his life had he felt that way. Never in his life had he ever desired someone as much as he desired Tessa in that instant.

When their lips finally touched, it was as if the world stopped spinning and the clock stopped ticking. He was sharing the best moment of his life with Tessa and he never wanted it to end. Tessa’s lips were like satin against his. It felt like their lips were made for each other. He ran his tongue across Tessa’s lips, and she opened her mouth for him. The kiss deepened, but it was still soft and gentle. Scott had never kissed someone like that. It was peaceful, like their hidden cocoon. 

Eventually though, they both became breathless and they had to come up for air. When they did, Scott rested his forehead on hers and smiled. 

“That was…” Tessa began, playing with the collar of his shirt shyly. She never finished her sentence and Scott let out a shaky breath. He too was at lost for words. 

“I didn’t expect that,” was all he could come up with.

“Me neither,” she huffed out.

“Yeah, not even when you cuddled with me last night?” he joked and she hit him playfully on the shoulder.

“I didn’t hear you complain.”

“I couldn’t. Not when all I was about thinking was doing just the same.”

Smiling, he captured her lips with hers once again, this time in a much more heated passion than their previous chaste first kiss. Soon, he moved so he was on top of her and she parted her legs so her could get closer. Feeling bold, he let one of his hand travel under her pyjama shirt. He could feel goosebumps on her skin as he ran his hands on her side until he came close to her breasts. He grazed the curve of her breast with his finger and when he felt her ache her back, he got the answer he needed to run his hand a little higher. 

She moaned and he felt how far this could go if they didn’t put a stop to it soon. They, and mostly Tessa, deserved better than the back of his old beaten truck. They deserved a comfy bed and quality sheets and candles and a hot shower to share afterwards. 

He rolled over, breathing heavily.

“Why did you stop?” Tessa whined.

“Because I want to do things right.”

She scoffed; “Huh, how wasn’t this right? For once I am the spontaneous one and you cut it short?” 

Scott laughed and winked at her; “Good things come to the ones who wait.”

“Oh come on,” she said, running her hands down his thigh and he closed his eyes tightly. He wanted to cave, but he couldn’t. He really meant it. They deserved a better setting than that. He hit her hand playfully before it was too late. 

“No, I’m serious, I’ll go get breakfast while you get ready for the road. It will give us time to cool down,” he winked before taking his wallet and hopping off the truck, leaving a dumbstruck Tessa behind him. 

He walked around the city for about thirty minutes, still not able to fully realize what had just happened. It was certainly not the feeling he had the day before when he woke up. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found someone like Tessa. She had stumbled in his life when he least expected it and she had become the best part of it in such a short time. 

He never wanted to let her go. To prove to her they needed to keep seeing each other after that road trip, he knew he needed to make a great impression on her and he planned to do so for the rest of the trip.

But first, he needed to find them both something to eat. He walked around a little more before he found the bakery he had spotted the previous night. The bakery had been closed as they passed by it in the storm, but it was actually open that morning and full of regular clients drinking their coffees and munching on delicious homemade pastries. 

The woman at the counter seemed like the perfect warm-hearted grandmother and he knew he had won her over when he told her about how he and Tessa had stumbled up in her small town. Because she was fond of young love, she offered him breakfast on the house. He got them both a coffee and a croissant before making his way back to the truck, not before thanking the old woman profusely. While he was walking, he not once lost the smile that had seemingly become permanently etched on his face. 

Scott just couldn’t stop grinning.

When he got back to his car, he opened the back of the trunk carefully, balancing the coffee tray and the bag of pastries so he wouldn’t make a mess. 

Inside the truck, he found a perfectly dressed Tessa sitting while looking at her phone. She looked up to him at the noise and shot him a seducing smile; “You sure you don’t want to get back to what we were doing?”

Scott shook his head fervently; “Huh huh kiddo. I have a better idea.”

He handed her one of the coffees after she climbed out of the trunk and she thanked him softly.

“So what’s that idea of yours, huh?” she asked, nudging him with her shoulder and getting closer so their thighs were touching. He could swear she was doing this on purpose to make him go crazy, but he wouldn’t cave. He wasn’t doing this in the back of his old car, parked in front of a shady country bar. He had a much better idea. 

“So huh, I was thinking about that, and we really are behind our schedule, which I’m so sorry for,” He didn’t know why he was apologizing; a flat tire and thunderstorms were hardly his fault, but he still felt like he owed Tessa an apology. She was paying him to get to her friend’s wedding and he hoped he wasn’t going to make her late to the event, no matter how glad he was for all the unexpected incidents that happened to them and led them to kissing in the back of his car. 

“It’s alright Scott. I still have three days before the wedding. How far are we from Vancouver anyway?” she reassured him.

He opened his phone and looked on Google maps. They had made it to a tiny town just outside Bozeman, in Montana. They were around 13 hours or more away from Vancouver, and that was without stops and traffic. It was too much to drive all that distance in a single day. 

He took in a big breath; “So anyway, since it’s impossible to drive the rest of the distance in a day, I thought, I mean, we are going to pass through a National park, Lolo forest. Maybe we could huh, I don’t know, stop there this afternoon and enjoy the day? Have a picnic or something. And then we drive a little more from let’s say 5 PM to 8, we stop for the night and we get to Vancouver tomorrow?”

Scott held his breath as he awaited Tessa’s answer. He knew that what he was suggesting sounded an awful lot like a date. He wanted it to be a date. He just hoped Tessa would want it too. 

“Is it a date?” he heard Tessa ask softly from besides him. 

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously; “I mean, it can be, if you want to that is,” 

Tessa nodded slowly, never adverting his eyes, and Scott retrieved the grin he had plastered on his face all morning long.

“It’s a date then,” he confirmed before pecking her on the lips. Smiling, he hopped in the car, hoping he could hide just how much the idea of going on a date with Tessa pleased him. 

She joined him shortly after and Scott turned the key into the ignition while Tessa tapped on Scott’s GPS screen, entering Lolo forest as their destination. 

He smiled at her as they entered the highway and when he put on the cruise control, he let go of the steering wheel with his right hand to take Tessa’s hand in his. Ever since their kisses that morning, he felt like he was on cloud nine. He and Tessa had shared the best kisses of his entire life and they were headed to a date. What more could he expect?

They drove in silence for the best part of the morning, both relinquishing only in each other’s presence and the feel of their interconnected hands. He marveled at how his hand seemed to fit so naturally in hers and he ran soft circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, Tessa’s soft hums of pleasure sounding like music to his ears. 

Eventually, they made it to the last city they would pass through before arriving at Lolo forest. They stopped at a small convenience store where they got everything they would need for their picnic; iced tea, bread, slices of ham, cheese, fruits. Satisfied, they headed back to the car and drove the short way to the entrance of the National Park. As Scott paid the entry fee, his heart squeezed tightly. He didn’t know how much money he had left in his account, but he knew it was probably not much. Tessa deserved a perfect date though and he wasn’t about to let her pay for it. He just hoped they would make it to BC before he ran out of money. He knew he could always call Patrick if he ever needed it. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

The ranger let them in and Scott drove slowly to the parking lot. He immobilized the car and turned the engine off before hopping off and grabbing their bag of groceries in the trunk along with the blanket they had used that night to cover their sleeping forms from the cold air. 

He felt so nervous. It was stupid, really. He and Tessa had been sharing the road for 4 whole days now and they had even shared a motel room. Just because they had decided to call their afternoon walking in the forest a date, didn’t mean it had to be any different than the other days. Except it felt like it was a whole different thing. Tessa was so amazing. He didn’t even know how it was possible that he gotten that lucky. A few days before he was rotting in his beaten down house and then, he had met the most beautiful, charming and funny woman he had ever met. He couldn’t screw it up. And god knew how easily he could screw a situation up; his career, his love life, his relationship with his family. Those were just a few examples. 

He had been nervous before hockey games in the past, but never had it been that bad. His heart rate was fast and he had trouble concentrating on what Tessa was saying. As they headed towards the designated walking path between the trees, Tessa took his hand in hers and Scott felt bad for how sweaty it was. 

They walked in silence for a few minutes and as long as they kept silent, Scott grew more and more nervous until he felt his hand almost sliding out of Tessa’s. He felt almost nauseous. 

“Scott, are you alright?” he heard Tessa ask after a few more minutes.

“Yeah,” he replied, but even he could hear how not right his voice sounded. 

“Come on, you’ve been all weird ever since we arrived, what’s up with you?” she asked, nudging him in the shoulder.

“Nothing,” he lied, not looking her in the eyes.

She stopped abruptly and stood in front of him, forcing him to look into her eyes; “Don’t lie to me Scott.”

He sighed loudly; “I just, I don’t want to mess up our date.”

She chuckled; “How could you screw it up? We were kissing in the back of your old rusty truck and that was enough for me. A national park is just a bonus. You don’t need to impress me. I’m already impressed.”

Scott shook his head, feeling more relaxed at Tessa’s words; “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“I know,” she winked before letting go of his hand and running away.

“Where are you going?” he laughed.

“Come on!” she said as her only response and he had no other choice than to follow her.

Out of breath, he finally joined half a mile farther. She stood in front of a clear water lake, looking pensively at the horizon. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, coming from behind and encircling her waist with his arms.

“How we should go for a swim,” she said mischievously, turning around in his arms. 

“What? You, miss discipline, wants to take a dip in this lake, where it’s probably forbidden?”

“Come on Scott, try to be a little spontaneous,” she said, kicking of her shoes and taking off her shirt to reveal her sport bra. 

Scott took a sharp intake of breath. This was probably a bad idea, they were in a National Park after all. At the same time, it was the beginning of September on a week day. They had not met a single soul since they had started walking. Everyone was too busy at school or at work. They were basically alone in the park. He would have been a fool to say no to that.

Shaking his head, he took of his clothes and his shoes until he only had his boxers left. Tessa was already running towards the lake, laughing. She had never been more beautiful. 

He ran as fast as he could and before she had time to react, he took Tessa in his arms and swung her across his shoulder.

“Scott!” she shrieked, “Put me down!” 

He got in the water and he shivered. It was icy. Feeling playful, without so much as a warming, he threw Tessa in the water. 

“Oh my god!” she yelped as she came up for air, wet from head to toe. “It’s so on,” 

With one big motion, she threw her arms at him only to bring him down under the water with her. They both came up for air, shivering and lips blue from the cold, but they had never felt happier than in that moment. 

Tessa encircled her arms around his neck and he kissed her softly, never wanting to let go. It was the best day he had had in a very, very long time. 

“I really like you Tessa Virtue,” he said, looking deep into her gorgeous green eyes.

“And I really, really like you Scott Moore,” she replied, smiling and eyes shinning like a million stars.

At that Scott’s heart sunk. Fuck. She still thought he was Scott Moore, the basic guy who played hockey and hurt himself, not the major league player who screw up his entire life. How would she react knowing he had lied to her all this time? How would she react if she found out that he had been caught driving drunk when the very reason why they had met, was because she had been hit by a drunk driver herself? He feared she would never forgive him. He didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t want to lose the best part of his life. He couldn’t tell her who he really was, but did he have a real chance at a relationship with her if he couldn’t be honest?

“Hey, you okay?” he heard Tessa asked after a few moments and he realized he had been lost in his thoughts. She seemed concerned and self-conscious and Scott felt bad. 

“Yeah, sorry, it’s just really cold in there,” he said, trying to push his dark thoughts to the far back of his mind.

“Yeah, we should get out if we don’t want to end up sick,” she agreed.

He led her out of the water, never letting go of her hand. On the bank of the lake, he found the blanket he had brought and engulfed their two shivering bodies in it. 

“We should have brought towels,” Tessa laughed.

“Yeah, well I didn’t plan on going for a swim,” he said, going for another peck on the lips and trying to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head, telling him how bad he was for lying to Tessa. 

Eventually it worked, he shot the annoying voice down and the rest of their day passed in a blur. They laughed and they kissed and they simply enjoyed each other’s company. Never in his life had Scott felt so at ease then he did with Tessa. It was weird to think back to when they first met, when they kept bickering all day. Some of Tessa’s habits that he found so annoying days before had actually grown on him and he eventually found himself thinking they were the cutest things. And while Tessa first hated him for his spontaneity and lack of planning ahead, she had become herself even more spontaneous than he was at times. 

That night, they stopped in another small town like all the others before, but this time they chose a cozy bed and breakfast to spend their night at instead of a dirty shady motel room. And if there was only one room available, it wasn’t a problem anymore, because they shared a room willingly. 

As Tessa fell asleep wrapped in his arms, their hot naked skin still sweaty from making love under the dim moonlight, all Scott could think about was how he was going to screw up the only thing he had cared about in a long time. 

He had to tell Tessa about who he really was before it was too late. He just hoped she wouldn’t go running when she would learn the truth.

**Author's Note:**

> Please, please, please, let me know what you think ;)


End file.
